North Carolina's Democratic Gov.-elect Roy Cooper says that the state legislature has agreed to another special session to repeal the law HB2, which limited LGBT protections. That is in agreement with the city of Charlotte, which has unanimously decided to repeal its own nondiscrimination ordinance once the law is repealed.
In a statement, Cooper said:
"Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore assured me that as a result of Charlotte's vote, a special session will be called for Tuesday to repeal HB2 in full. I hope they will keep their word to me and with the help of Democrats in the legislature, HB2 will be repealed in full.
"Full repeal will help to bring jobs, sports and entertainment events back and will provide the opportunity for strong LGBT protections in our state."
HB2 doesn't just force transgender people use the public restrooms that correspond with the gender on their birth certificate, but also nullifies the nondiscrimination laws local governments had passed across the state to protect LGBTQ citizens. It also prevents local governments from implementing their own employment discrimination and minimum wage ordinances.
Repeal of the law would be huge, if the legislature keeps its word. But it would still leave LGBTQ people without nondiscrimination protections in the state. It's also not clear if repeal of the state law would mean all the local nondiscrimination ordinances are back in effect.