NC's HB2 and the Shifting Battle Over LGBT Rights

Supporters of HB2, however, have not appealed to religious freedom. Instead, they defend the law as common-sense legislation that protects the privacy and safety of women and children. By keeping women in women’s restrooms and men in men’s, supporters intone, HB2 keeps “perverts” from using the cloak of a claimed gender identity as cover for their nefarious deeds. Ignoring for the moment (even though doing so is quite difficult) the marked tension between the North Carolina legislature’s record on education, health care, domestic violence and rape prevention services, and meaningful alleviation of poverty—as well as the marked opposition by many of HB2’s supporters to anti-bullying legislation that included protections for sexual orientation and gender-identity—and their newfound sense of responsibility to protect women and children, and putting aside for the moment (even though doing so is quite painful, verging on irresponsible) the lethal violence directed toward trans* bodies—bodies not counted among the “women and children” about whom the legislature now cares so deeply—it is vital that we remember that the absence of religious language hardly means religious assumptions are not operating.