Every North Carolina Senate Democrat walked out of the chamber rather than vote on the bill which legalizes anti-LGBT discrimination. The remaining GOP Senators then approved the bill 31-0. Passing the state House earlier by a more than 3-1 margin, the bill went to the desk of Republican Governor Pat McCrory, who signed it.

Sarah Preston, acting executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina.

“Rather than expand nondiscrimination laws to protect all North Carolinians, the General Assembly instead spent $42,000 to rush through an extreme bill that undoes all local nondiscrimination laws and specifically excludes gay and transgender people from legal protections.“

House Bill 2 mandates that state law supersedes all local ordinances concerning wages, employment, and public accommodations. It would also restrict single-sex public restrooms and locker rooms in publicly run facilities to people of the same sex on their birth certificate.

It would BAN trans students from school restrooms that correspond with their gender identity — teeing up a potential legal clash with the federal government, which has found civil rights laws ban transgender discrimination in schools.

(via CNN)