North Carolina Senate leader Phil
Berger said this week that an “outright repeal” of a
controversial law that targets the LGBT community does not have
enough support.
Republican lawmakers last year approved
House Bill 2 during a one-day special session in March. The law
blocks cities and municipalities from enacting LGBT protections and
prohibits transgender people from using the bathroom of their choice
in many buildings.
In an interview with Time
Warner Cable News, Berger also said that a compromise was
unlikely.
“I think the window for that
compromise may not be open at this point, and I certainly don't
believe that the votes exist for an outright repeal without anything
else,” Berger said.
Democratic Governor Roy Cooper
disagreed with that assessment during an event in Charlotte, saying
that “there are enough overall votes – even if you don't have a
majority [in the] Republican caucuses - to pass repeal,” The
News & Observer reported.
Berger responded in a statement, saying
that the governor and his “far-left allies must stop trying to
force women and young girls to share bathrooms and school locker
rooms with men.”
Passage of House Bill 2 led to an
economic boycott of North Carolina, costing the state an estimated
$400 million, according
to an analysis by Wired.