WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. ― A federal judge lobbed tough questions at GOP lawyers Monday as he considered whether to block a North Carolina legal measure governing transgender bathroom access, asking pointedly how the law was making people safer.
The Republican lawyers urged U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder to deny the preliminary injunction sought by transgender plaintiffs, but the judge said he’d issue a ruling later.
His request for more written briefs indicated a decision was at least days away.
“How does this law make bathrooms and changing rooms safer in North Carolina?” the judge asked Butch Bowers, an attorney for Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, a defendant in legal challenges to the law.
The state’s Republican leaders argue the law is needed to protect privacy and safety by keeping men out of women’s restrooms. Transgender residents challenging the law known as HB2 argue that restroom safety is protected by existing laws, and they say the North Carolina measure is harmful and discriminatory.
The law passed in March requires transgender people to use the restrooms in schools and many public buildings that correspond to the sex on their birth certificates, rather than their gender identity. It also excludes gender identity and sexual orientation from statewide antidiscrimination protections. Trial is scheduled for November.
Schroeder, known for his thoroughness, grilled both sides about the premises underpinning their arguments, but his most pointed questions came when Bowers stood to address the court.
