North Carolina Fails to Repeal Anti-LGBTQ 'Bathroom' Bill

North Carolina's senate voted against repealing the HB2 law that restricts transgender restroom access and has put the state at the center of national debate over lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.

The legislation to repeal the law, known as House Bill 2, was defeated by a vote of 32-16, leaving the bathroom restrictions in place statewide.

The Republican-dominated state senate then adjourned without voting on a second, related provision that would have temporarily banned cities from affirming transgender bathroom rights. The state's house of representatives, also controlled by Republicans, voted earlier in the day to adjourn.

Legislators had called a special session to consider scrapping the law, which passed in March and made North Carolina the first state to bar transgender people from using public restrooms that match their gender identity.

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Governor-elect Roy Cooper had announced the repeal of the law after the Charlotte City Council voted 7-2 to invalidate its LGBTQ non-discrimination ordinance.

"Republican legislative leaders have broken their word to me and have broken the trust of North Carolina's people," Cooper said after the vote.

LGBTQ activists in North Carolina and across the country have been protesting the discriminatory law for months, calling for a successful boycott of the state.

Conservatives have defended the bill, with North Carolina Lt. Gov. Dan Forest saying, "No economic, political or ideological pressure can convince me that what is wrong is right. It will always be wrong for men to have access to women's showers and bathrooms."

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Activists have been supported by celebrities, businesses and organizations who have all threatened to boycott or have canceled appearances in the state.

The justice department sent a letter to outgoing Republican Governor Pat McCrory informing him that the HB2 violates sections of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama issued a directive order to public schools, arguing transgender students must be allowed to use the bathroom of their choice.

The order began a politically-explosive battle over civil rights and prompted 12 states to announce they would sue the federal government over the directive, including in Texas, Alabama and Wisconsin.