The Department of Justice set a Monday deadline for lawmakers in North Carolina to repeal or cease implementation of their anti-transgender "bathroom bill" HB2 but, rather than adhere to the Justice Department's deadline, the state has filed a lawsuit against the department.
Governor Pat McCrory is asking the court to block the Department of Justice and, by extension, the Department of Education, from penalizing the state for violating the Civil Rights Act.
McCrory's lawsuit, filed in federal court in North Carolina, asks a judge to block Justice Department action that could threaten billions of dollars in federal money flowing to the state.
The lawsuit called the law a "common sense privacy policy" and said the Justice Department's position was a "baseless and blatant overreach."
McCrory's arguments are ridiculous even at face value, but especially so given that the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in D.C. has already ruled against these same arguments in the case of a transgender student in Virginia who was prohibited from using the appropriate restroom. More specifically, the court ruled that discrimination against transgender students is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
It's possible the McCrory administration will be victorious in the very first courtroom they land in, but they will not win at the 4th Circuit. McCrory's office is undoubtedly aware of how the 4th Circuit will rule (has already ruled), but they've chosen to waste state taxpayer money on this crusade.
Based on the McCrory administration's own words, we can infer that they believe adopting a non-discrimination policy is a government "overreach," but closely scrutinizing everyone's genitals is not.