HB 142 is the newest compromise in the attempt by Democrats to repeal North Carolina's controversial "bathroom bill," HB 2, which was passed last year. HB 2 made it illegal for a person to go into a multi-stall bathroom in a school or public agency facility if that person's biological sex was different than the gender allowed in the particular bathroom. It was a bill targeted against the trans community and caused public outcry.

The NCAA threatened to not schedule any of its championship games in North Carolina from 2018-2022 if HB 2 was not repealed. As the deadline for the NCAA's decisions on state bids looms (some reports indicate that NCAA gave North Carolina a 48-hour deadline yesterday to repeal HB 2), state Republicans and Democratic Governor Roy Cooper introduce HB 142 today. HB 142 repeals HB 2 but continues to leave the state legislature in charge of bathrooms, showers, and changing facilities in schools and public agencies. Additionally, it explicitly bans local governments from passing any regulations regarding these facilities until December 1, 2020.

Many civil liberties groups are opposed to HB 142. They argue that the state legislature should stay out of regulating who can go into what bathroom. Additionally, by setting a prohibition on local governments from passing their own regulations means that they are forbidden to pass anti-discrimination policies. State republicans say that the December 2020 deadline in the bill is to allow federal litigation of HB 2 to "play out." But civil rights groups interpret this deadline as a delay in granting local governments the ability to protect trans people by passing their own ordinances.

HB 142 is a weak and problematic start on North Carolina's path to equality. In short, HB 142 is not a full repeal of HB 2. It keeps legislative power over bathroom in the state's hands and keeps local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances for the next three and a half years. Because the state legislature retains legislative power over bathrooms in North Carolina, nothing can stop them from pursuing another bathroom bill in the future. Additionally, it prevents local governments from taking active anti-discrimination measures in protecting the trans community. North Carolina can and should do better.