North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory slightly changed the previous law passed last month, which required individuals to use the bathroom in accordance with their biological gender, and not based on their gender identity.
The law was considered discriminatory by opponents, but the governor stood firm on the provision, which he calls "common sense" rules. The law was partially modified by the governor through an executive order, but the core measures were left intact.
The Governor's office reported that the changes in the new law affirm private sector's right to establish its own restroom and locker room policies, allows private sector and local governments' right to establish non-discrimination employment policies for their own employees, expand state's employment policy for employees to cover sexual orientation and gender identity, and seek legislation to reinstate the right to sue in state court for discrimination.
However, the earlier rule for using bathrooms in government buildings and schools was unchanged.
"After listening to people's feedback for the past several weeks on this issue, I have come to the conclusion that there is a great deal of misinformation, misinterpretation, confusion, a lot of passion and frankly, selective outrage and hypocrisy, especially against the great state of North Carolina," Governor McCrory said in a statement. "Based upon this feedback, I am taking action to affirm and improve the state's commitment to privacy and equality."
LGBT activists said that not enough was done to reverse the law, which they call discriminatory.
"Gov. McCrory's actions today are a poor effort to save face after his sweeping attacks on the LGBT community, and they fall far short of correcting the damage done when he signed into law the harmful House Bill 2, which stigmatizes and mandates discrimination against gay and transgender people," said Sarah Preston, ACLU North Carolina's executive director.
Charlotte Chamber of Commerce welcomed Governor's modifications to the law, saying that it was a decision that protected all interests.
"We applaud the governor's actions today which demonstrate that North Carolina is an open and welcoming state," the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce said in a statement. "We strongly encourage the leadership and members of the General Assembly to take quick action to the governor's call to ensure citizens have the right to pursue claims of discrimination at the state level."
North Carolina House of Representatives, State Rep. Tim Moore (R) said that the rules were "unfairly reported and maligned by political activists" so far.
"Governor McCrory's executive order affirms the importance of the actions the General Assembly took in passing the Bathroom Bill to protect North Carolina citizens from extremists' efforts to undermine civility and normalcy in our everyday lives," Moore said.
Following the government's decision to implement the law, many companies threatened to back out from the state and cease investment. PayPal withdrew a planned expansion to open a global operations center in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Deutsche Bank froze plans to create 250 more jobs in Cary, North Carolina, and many states banned non-essential state sponsored travel to North Carolina.
