Relief granted to transgender students fighting North Carolina's bathroom law

Source: Reuters

A U.S. judge on Friday blocked the University of North Carolina from enforcing a state law requiring transgender people to use single-sex restrooms and locker rooms that correspond to the gender on their birth certificate.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder's order granting a preliminary injunction applies only to the three transgender plaintiffs named in a lawsuit challenging the measure, known as House Bill 2 or HB 2. North Carolina in March became the first U.S. state to bar people from using restrooms in government buildings and public schools consistent with their gender identity.

“In short, UNC may not apply HB2’s one-size-fits-all approach to what must be a case-by-case inquiry,” wrote Schroeder, noting that his order effectively returned all involved to the status quo before the new law passed “wherein public agencies accommodated the individual transgender Plaintiffs on a case-by-case basis, rather than applying a blanket rule to all people in all facilities under all circumstances.”

The judge, an appointee of Republican former President George W. Bush, heard oral arguments in the case on Aug. 1 in Winston-Salem.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lgbt-idUSKCN1112F1