The vote to repeal HB2 failed in the NC Senate last night, and both houses decided to adjourn, leaving HB2 unchanged! Praise to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy endures forever!
The special session to repeal HB2 was called by Gov. Pat McCrory, who took a lot of fire for signing the bill into law earlier this year.
As legislators began to meet Wednesday morning, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest released a statement, announcing his opposition to a repeal:
Charlotte repealed an ordinance that the General Assembly already voided months ago. I support HB 2 and do not favor its repeal. No economic, political or ideological pressure can convince me that what is wrong is right. It will always be wrong for men to have access to women’s showers and bathrooms. If HB 2 is repealed, there will be nothing on the books to prevent another city or county to take us down this path again. The left has already publicly stated the removal of HB 2 is necessary for the rest of their agenda to move forward. With certainty, if HB 2 is repealed, we will fight this battle all over again with another city or county. The names will change, but the national groups who are pushing this agenda will not stop until their social engineering is accomplished. The only thing stopping them are those of us who continue to stand strong.
Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger sponsored Senate Bill 4, which if passed, would have repealed HB2. However, Berger’s bill was rejected by both Democrats and conservative Republicans, and failed to pass. Democrats joined conservatives in opposing the Berger’s proposed repeal, because it wouldn’t have repealed HB2 immediately, but instead sometime next year. So who ended up voting for the HB2 repeal? Only Berger and 15 other liberal Republicans.
Ironically, the North Carolina Republican Party released a statement blasting Democrats for voting against the repeal.
The City Council and Cooper “have now seriously harmed HB2 repeal efforts,” the statement reads. “The HB2 blood is now stain soaked on their hands and theirs alone. What a dishonest, disgraceful shame by Roy Cooper and Charlotte Democrats.”
It was an interesting night, with Democrats and many Republicans essentially switching sides on the HB2 issue, but in God’s providence, HB2 remains intact. Praise to the Lord, and thank you to the conservative legislators who remained consistent and voted against the repeal.
