North Carolina's controversial House Bill 2 (HB2) has been deemed to be in violation of the Civil Rights Act by the US Department of Justice.
More commonly referred to as the 'bathroom bill', the legislation put forward a plan to provide for "single-sex multiple occupancy bathroom and changing facilities in schools and public agencies", which would require people to use the bathroom of their biological sex, "which is stated on a person's birth certificate."
The bill was brought into force and signed in the North Carolina General Assembly by Republican Governor Pat McCrory after a local ordinance in Charlotte banned discrimination against the LGBT community.
The Department of Justice however, has ruled that the bill violates the Civil Rights Act, and has given the state legislature until Monday to confirm "that the State will not comply with or implement HB2."
The bill has been widely criticised, and lead to acts of protest from Bruce Springsteen, who canceled a concert in the state as a result of the legislation, and PayPal, who made the decision to row back on plans for expansion in the state.
Image: North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory makes remarks during an interview at the Governor's mansion in Raleigh. Gerry Broome / AP/Press Association Images
Speaking on Wednesday, McRory stated that the ruling was "something we’ve never seen regarding Washington overreach in my lifetime," while Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina Dan Forest issued a statement saying that the Obama administration was holding "North Carolina children hostage".
"To use our children and their educational futures as pawns to advance an agenda that will ultimately open those same children up to exploitation at the hands of sexual predators is by far, the sickest example of the depths the Obama Administration will stoop to 'fundamentally transform our nation'," read his statement.
