North Carolina's transgender bathroom law is being repealed by the state's GOP-led legislature in a deal with its Democratic governor that would still ban local governments from regulating access to multiple-occupancy restrooms and locker rooms, multiple news sites are reporting.
The deal was hammered out by newly elected Gov. Roy Cooper, Republican Senate president Phil Berger and Republican House Speaker Tim Moore, reported The Hill.
The Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, better known in North Carolina as House Bill 2, excludes gender identity and sexual orientation from statewide antidiscrimination protections, and requires transgender people to use restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates in many public buildings, noted The Associated Press.
The law also prevented cities like Charlotte from establishing its own law giving transgender people the right to use the restroom of the gender identity, noted the Charlotte Observer.
"I support the House Bill 2 repeal compromise that will be introduced tomorrow," Cooper said in a statement late Wednesday, per The Hill. "It's not a perfect deal, but it repeals House Bill 2 and begins to repair our reputation."
A joint statement by Berger and Moore said the agreement would repeal House Bill 2, guarantee privacy in bathrooms and shower facilities by leaving regulation of multi-occupancy facilities to the state.
The agreement also authorizes local governments to pass employment and accommodation non-discrimination ordinances, consistent with federal employment and accommodation non-discrimination law.
"We believe the four points in Gov. Cooper's compromise proposal represent a path forward by repealing House Bill 2, protecting citizens' privacy in bathrooms and changing rooms, authorizing local governments to adopt anti-discrimination ordinances consistent with federal law, and providing legal protections for violations of constitutional rights of conscience," said Berger and Moore.
"We believe if the governor can get Democratic legislators to support the principles outlined in his proposal, we can pass a bipartisan bill that will put the distraction of HB2 behind us once and for all."
The agreement comes after the AP reported earlier this week that North Carolina would lose $3.76 billion in lost business over the next 12 years because of the law.
The AP said it compiled the analysis through interviews and public records requests and that it represents the largest reckoning yet of how much the law, passed one year ago, could cost the state.
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