--- title: Pat McCrory Sues Over North Carolina Bathroom Bill: Reaction description: North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory sued the U.S. Justice Department Monday over its charge that the state's House Bill 2 violates civil rights. canonical: https://time.com/4322703/north-carolina-pat-mccrory-bathroom-bill/ author: IDEAS Desk article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-05-09T15:18:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T17:22:58.024Z article:section: Ideas og:title: 2 People Affected by North Carolina's Bathroom Bill Speak Out og:description: 'Our lawmakers told us that we were no longer welcome in our state' og:url: https://time.com/4322703/north-carolina-pat-mccrory-bathroom-bill/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt371e723ebfb1a986/69889267e20a8746eea90bff/pat-mccrory.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory holds a news conference with fellow members of the Republican Governors Association at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 23, 2015. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 2 People Affected by North Carolina's Bathroom Bill Speak Out twitter:description: 'Our lawmakers told us that we were no longer welcome in our state' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt371e723ebfb1a986/69889267e20a8746eea90bff/pat-mccrory.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 2 People Affected by North Carolina's Bathroom Bill Speak Out by [IDEAS Desk](https://time.com/author/ideas-desk/) ## IDEAS Desk May 9, 2016 3:18 PM UTC  North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory holds a news conference with fellow members of the Republican Governors Association at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 23, 2015. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory holds a news conference with fellow members of the Republican Governors Association at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 23, 2015.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images by [IDEAS Desk](https://time.com/author/ideas-desk/) ## IDEAS Desk May 9, 2016 3:18 PM UTC North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory [sued](http://time.com/4322751/north-carolina-sues-government-bathroom-lgbt-law/?xid=homepage) the U.S. Justice Department Monday over its [charge](http://time.com/4320104/north-carolina-bathroom-law-justice-department/?iid=sr-link1) last week that the state’s House Bill 2, which prevents cities from passing anti-discrimination measures and bans transgender people from using the bathroom of the sex they identify as, violates civil rights protections for LGBT people. Here are two people who are affected by the law—and why they think North Carolina should change it. **Joaquin Carcano**, a transgender man, is HIV Project Coordinator at UNC-Chapel Hill. In a [piece for _TIME_](http://time.com/4276396/north-carolina-transgender-rights/), he describes how the bill could affect his work supporting transgender people in the state—and his own life. --- > “” --- **Kelly Trent**, a lesbian woman, and her wife were turned away from a fertility clinic after HB2 passed. In a [piece for _TIME_](http://time.com/4315165/north-carolina-hb2-parenthood/), she explains why she became a plaintiff in a lawsuit against McCrory and other North Carolina leaders over the law. --- > “” --- ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4322703/north-carolina-pat-mccrory-bathroom-bill/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4322703/north-carolina-pat-mccrory-bathroom-bill/"},"headline":"2 People Affected by North Carolina's Bathroom Bill Speak Out","datePublished":"2016-05-09T15:18:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T17:22:58.024Z","description":"'By signing HB2 into law, our lawmakers told us that we were no longer welcome in our state'","url":"https://time.com/4322703/north-carolina-pat-mccrory-bathroom-bill/","keywords":["politics","Transgender","Law","North Carolina"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt371e723ebfb1a986/69889267e20a8746eea90bff/pat-mccrory.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"IDEAS Desk","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ideas-desk/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt371e723ebfb1a986/69889267e20a8746eea90bff/pat-mccrory.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory holds a news conference with fellow members of the Republican Governors Association at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 23, 2015.","caption":"North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory holds a news conference with fellow members of the Republican Governors Association at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 23, 2015.","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4322703/north-carolina-pat-mccrory-bathroom-bill/","name":"2 People Affected by North Carolina's Bathroom Bill Speak Out"}}]}] ```