This afternoon, the ACLU filed a preliminary injunction to “seek immediate relief for transgender people” in their ongoing lawsuit to overturn HB 2. The bill would block enforcement of the parts of HB 2 that prevent transgender people from using the bathroom associated with their gender identity. Currently, under HB 2, transgender people have to use the bathroom of the gender they were assigned at birth.
In a statement, ACLU of North Carolina Legal Director Chris Brook said, “HB 2 is causing ongoing and serious harm to transgender people in North Carolina and must be put on hold while it is reviewed by the court. The U.S. Justice Department has made it clear that HB 2 violates federal law.”
Along with the injunction, the ACLU filed several “exhibit(s) in support,” testimony from plaintiffs and experts about why the injunction is necessary. In one of those briefs, New York State University (Albany) Assistant Chief of Police Aran C. Mull says that “eliminating protections for transgender people and forcing them to use sex-specific facilities that match their birth certificate without regard to their gender identity, does not enhance or improve the tools that law enforcement has to combat crime.” Rather, Mull says, “nondiscrimination protections can actually make those tools more effective,” especially with regards to improving community policing efforts.
You can read the ACLU’s injunction and the Mull declaration below.
