A judge for the US District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina [official website] ruled [opinion, PDF] on Friday that the University of North Carolina (UNC) must allow transgender students to choose and use restrooms matching their gender identity at its campuses. The case was brought to court against North Carolina Governor Patrick McCrory [official website] and state legislators Phil Berger [official website] and Tim Moore by three plaintiffs who were represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website], challenging North Carolina House Bill No. 2 (HB2) [bill, PDF]. Two of the plaintiffs were transgender individuals [LA Times report]. The challenge was only to part I of HB2, dubbed the “bathroom bill,” that “requires public agencies to ensure that multiple occupancy bathrooms, showers, and other similar facilities are ‘designated for and only used by’ 2 persons based on their ‘biological sex,’ defined as the sex listed on their birth certificate.” The plaintiffs sought a preliminary injunction to block the enforcement of the bathroom bill portion of HB2, which Judge Thomas Schroeder granted, stating that:

“Plaintiffs have made a clear showing that (1) they are likely to succeed on their claim that Part I violates Title IX [of the Educational Amendments of 1972] [statute, text], as interpreted by the United States Department of Education (“DOE”) under the standard articulated by the Fourth Circuit; (2) they will suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary relief; (3) the balance of equities weighs in favor of an injunction; and (4) an injunction is in the public interest.”

Based on the above conclusion, Schroeder enjoined UNC, and the state of North Carolina from enforcing part I of HB2 against the individual transgender plaintiffs until the court reaches a final decision on the merits in this case. However, Schroeder denied the preliminary injunction on the equal protection claim and reserved his ruling on the due process claim pending additional briefing from the parties. The court has given additional deadlines for briefs to be filed by the parties with a final deadline of October 7 for the last brief to be filed.

Transgender access to public restrooms has been a controversial topic and has created a wave of legislative and judicial actions. Earlier this month a judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Texas temporarily blocked [JURIST report] federal guidelines that allowed transgender students to use the bathroom according to the gender with which they identify. Earlier this month the US Supreme Court blocked [JURIST report] a lower court ruling allowing a transgender student who identifies as male to use the boy’s restroom at school.