North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory
said Sunday that he needs more time to respond to a Justice
Department determination that a state law is in violation of the
Civil Rights Act.
The federal agency said in a letter
last week to McCrory that a provision of House Bill 2 which limits
the bathroom choices of transgender people in government buildings,
including schools, violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and
gave state officials until Monday to confirm that they “will not
comply with or implement HB2.”
(Related: Justice
Department says North Carolina's anti-gay law violates Civil Rights
Act.)
Appearing on Fox News Sunday,
McCrory said that the Justice Department denied his request for an
extension of Monday's deadline unless he is wiling to admit that the
bill is discriminatory.
“I'm not going to publicly announce
that something discriminates,” McCrory told host Chris Wallace.
The Republican governor called the
deadline unrealistic, adding that the federal government was “being
a bully.”
Wallace asked McCrory whether the law
is a solution in search of a problem.
“How many cases have you had in North
Carolina in the last year where people have been convicted of using
transgender protections to commit crimes in bathrooms?” Wallace
asked.
“This wasn't a problem. That's the
point I'm making. This is the Democratic Party and the left wing of
the Democratic Party,” McCrory answered.
“Have there been any cases of this?”
Wallace repeated.
“Not that I'm aware of,” McCrory
admitted.
“Why not then just let it go, if
there's not a case of transgender people going in and molesting
little girls?”
McCrory said there was an expectation
of privacy.