Transgender lawsuit: Gov. McCrory right to sue but legislature should give it thought

Gov. Pat McCrory on Monday fired back at the federal government, which has warned North Carolina that it is in violation of the civil rights of transgender people. He sued the Justice Department, saying it was overreaching its authority and making up law.

Good for the governor.

United States Attorney General Loretta Lynch, herself a North Carolina native, likened the state's passage of a law restricting the use of public restrooms by transgender people to the ones that correspond to their anatomical identity rather than their gender identity to racial discrimination.

We think she she's gone a little overboard.

In fact, the whole business was a non-issue until the liberal city government of Charlotte passed a law openly recognizing the rights of transgender people to use the restroom of their choice.

North Carolina could well lose a fight over the constitutionality of its law. Who knows how the Supreme Court would view the issue? But at least we have stood up for our rights as a state.

Former Gov. Jim Martin, in a recent opinion piece, wrote that the problem is much ado about nothing. Martin called for the General Assembly to at least take up the matter, to discuss it reasonably and let common sense and fairness determine the state's course of action. Unfortunately, given the heat of the moment, that is not likely to happen.

Published in Editorials on May 10, 2016 12:10 PM