Department of Justice counter-sues North Carolina over controversial bathroom law

DOJ fights back.
(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The U.S. Department of Justice counter-sued North Carolina Monday over its controversial anti-LGBT law, just hours after the state sued the federal government to keep the law and hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding. A portion of the new law, which the Justice Department has claimed violates the Civil Rights Act, requires transgender people to use public restrooms associated with their biological sex in public agencies.

"They created state sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals who simply seek to engage in the most private of functions in a place of safety and security, a right taken for granted by most of us," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a news conference.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.