HB2 Should Be Strengthened, Not Repealed

HB2 is modest in its goals and should be strengthened to protect the truth of biological sex and the safety of women and children.

The North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina.
The North Carolina State Capitol in Raleigh, North Carolina. (photo: ‘Farragutful’, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Last week, the North Carolina legislature failed to repeal HB2, the much-maligned law that overturned a Charlotte measure which mandated that businesses must let men use women’s restrooms.

Huffington Post reports that both parties blame each other for deadlock – the repeal was predicated upon Democratic officials in towns and cities agreeing to not enact measures like the ones in Charlotte, something that was refused. And Republicans wanted to phase HB2 out of law over the next six months.

But the details are unimportant; Republicans should never have considered repealing HB2 which, contrary to the histrionics of its opponents, is modest in its goals and should be strengthened to protect the truth of biological sex and the safety of women and children.

As a reminder, those histrionics include U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch comparing HB2 to racist Jim Crow laws. However, as I argued months ago, the law allows businesses to make their own decisions about bathroom use, in keeping with thousands of years of public norms. Schools are also given flexibility regarding sex-segregated facilities, and government entities are allowed to make their own internal policies regarding facility usage, etc.

Compare this to the Charlotte ordinance, which did not allow any such flexibility to most business owners or schools.

Additionally, HB2 allows for people to use the restrooms of the biological sex listed on their birth certificate. In other words, if a male or female has enough hormone and surgical changes to legally be listed as the opposite sex on their birth certificate, HB2’s restrictions don’t apply.

Clearly, it is the Charlotte ordinance and other so-called “non-discrimination” laws like it that are totalitarian, not HB2. But nor is HB2 adequate. It ought to be strengthened by forcing government entities to respect the realities of biological sex and not reinforce mental illness – as opposed to providing a loophole that lets taxpayers be part of the LGBT agenda and gives sexual predators (and hormonal teenagers) an open door.

The birth certificate loophole likewise undermines biological sex, further putting government influence behind making biological sex irrelevant. This loophole should be eliminated.

Two additional notes: Supporters of HB2 argue that the law is unnecessary, because laws already exist to protect girls from predators. Furthermore, they say, girls have been changing near or around people gender identity confusion without knowing it for years.

These flawed arguments ignore that safety concerns are mostly unrelated to people who are confused about their gender. It’s heterosexual male predators who will most likely take advantage of these laws to target girls.

Second, how many businesses will risk the public backlash of prosecuting a predator who takes advantage of these laws? How many courts and police departments will actually enforce laws against people who claim to be “transgender?” The well-funded Human Rights Campaign and its media allies would have a field day, and push for even more anti-liberty, anti-science laws.

Finally, it is the Left that has made the phrases “triggered” and “safe spaces” almost household terms. Yet the same movement that sees President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton worthy of cry spaces and Play-Doh at colleges will force women who have been sexually, domestically, or otherwise abused to change around naked men.