North Carolina officials this Monday responded to the U.S. government's challenge to a controversial law on public restroom access for transgender people by filing a lawsuit against Washington over what they call the controversial LBGT law, according to various news outlets.
The lawsuit was directly filed by North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory early Monday morning against the U.S. Justice Department, asking a federal court to state that his state's controversial "bathroom bill" is not discriminatory, Breaking News reported.
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McCrory was given until Monday to notify the DOJ that he would not enforce the law, which the federal government says limits protections for LGBT people, according to NBC News.
According to the filed complaint, McCrory accused the federal government of “baseless and blatant overreach.”
NBC News also noted that McCrory filed the suit without help from North Carolina's attorney general, Roy Cooper, and turned to private law firms to draft the suit.
McCrory will make a statement to the media at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time this Monday, Breaking News said.
In the newest chapter of transgender Americans' fast-evolving fight for equal rights, the federal government had notified North Carolina that its law is a civil rights violation.
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The law, which went into effect in March, requires transgender people to use public bathrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate.
The state is now poised to also face a federal lawsuit, according to three letters that the U.S. Justice Department sent last week to North Carolina officials.
The department declined to say whether it would take legal action, but the letters suggest it is willing to do so, setting the stage for a potentially costly court fight over an issue that has already sparked several boycotts against the state.
So now, if the Justice Department successfully sues for a court order forcing the state to stop enforcing the bathroom law, the state would have to comply or face the loss of about US$4.8 billion in federal funding.