Police in several major North Carolina cities told NPR they will not penalize nor arrest a trans person for using the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
Photo: Shutterstock.
While legal battles rage on over North Carolina’s anti-LGBT law known as House Bill 2, law enforcement officers in the state won’t be arresting any restroom deviants any time soon.
Damien Graham, a spokesman for the Raleigh Police Department, told NPR on Tuesday that his department will not enforce the sweeping law, which requires transgender people to use public bathrooms that do not match their gender identity, because “the bill doesn’t speak to enforcement nor penalty.”
Raleigh Police had attorneys review the language of HB 2, but since there “wasn’t any specific language that spoke to enforcement or even penalty,” the department wasn’t sure how its officers could enforce the law, Graham told NPR.
[…]
If the police receive a complaint about someone in the “wrong” bathroom, the department will respond, says Graham, but officers will not penalize or arrest anyone for using the restroom that corresponds with their gender identity.
[…]
Christina Hallingse, the public information officer for the police department in Asheville, told NPR that it would be nearly impossible to enforce HB 2. Doing so would drain the department’s resources, because it would require officers to stand guard outside public restrooms asking people to present their birth certificates before entering these gender-segregated spaces.
“It would take them off the streets, off patrol and having to put them at bathrooms,” explained Hallingse of the logistics of enforcing HB 2.
Full Story at The Advocate.
While it’s very nice to see police paying attention to reality, and doing the right thing for a change, McCrory continues on in stubborn asshole mode. Apparently he thinks he has a chance in the upcoming election, and is selling these bumper stickers for a donation:
“It’s just common sense” has been McCrory’s increasingly plaintive defense of HB 2 and the indefensible. I’m expecting he’ll be utterly trounced by Roy Cooper in the November election, and I’ll be happy to see it.
I imagine it has less to do with it being the right thing to do, and more to do with there being no feasible way to enforce the ban short of mandatory underwear searches at every public restroom 24/7.
tbtabby:
Oh yes, you’re right, but as I noted, I’m glad for once cops are actually paying attention to the reality of the situation, which they often don’t bother to do.
Caine:
ME TOO!! In his ridiculous suit against the feds, he wants the courts to declare that the discrimination of HB2 is not discrimination. His “common sense” is nonsensical. And the fact that there are no penalties or specifics of enforcement in HB2 just shows that the legislators are clueless idiots with an axe to grind against a minority of people that they hate. I hope all the progressives and sensible people of NC vote the bigots out of office resoundingly.
Time for someone to start making money selling a bumper magnet that simply reads, “Famous Last Words:”.
“Famous Last Words: ” “It’s Just Common Sense!”
It’s just Common Sense flushed down the toilet.
besomyka @4:
Nah! They would just pull the magnet off and throw it away. However, a smaller bumper sticker could be stuck right above or beside that one. It would be harder to remove. (I am not advocating vandalism, of course!) ;-P
Heavier objects fall faster than lighter ones: It’s just common sense.
The earth is a flat surface around which the sun orbits: It’s just common sense.
Women have inferior maths skills to men, which explains the dearth of women in STEM professions: It’s just common sense.
Any more for any more?
More North Carolina-related bathroom issues that will make you see red:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/denied-bathroom-breaks-these-workers-must-resort-to-diapers/?google_editors_picks=true