North Carolina Lawmakers Override Governor's Vetos Of Three Anti-LGBTQ Bills

The Republican-led General Assembly on Wednesday voted to override Democratic Governor Roy Cooper's vetoes of three anti-LGBTQ bills.

Two of the bills target transgender youth.

House Bill 808 prohibits transgender youth from receiving gender-affirming medical treatments, while House Bill 574 prohibits transgender girls from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity. Both bills immediately became law.

Lawmakers also overrode the governor's veto of a “Don't Say Gay” bill that bans instruction about sexuality and gender identity in K-4 classrooms. Public school teachers are now required to inform parents when a student asks to be called by a different name or pronoun.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBTQ rights advocate, said in a statement that lawmakers who voted to override the governor's vetoes “should be ashamed of themselves.”

“These bills range in impact from curriculum censorship to school sports to banning best practice healthcare, but they have one important throughline: extremist legislators are trying to gain political power by harming vulnerable young people and their families,” the group said. “Once again, the North Carolina General Assembly has prioritized anti-transgender discrimination over the well-being of North Carolina. Governor Cooper did the right thing by vetoing these hateful bills designed to rile up hate against LGBTQ+ people, but legislators are sending a clear message that North Carolina is not a safe place for us. We will not stop fighting these discriminatory measures.”

North Carolina becomes the 22^nd state to restrict such medical treatments for transgender youth. Minors who started treatment before August 1 will not be cut off from receiving that care. Such treatments are considered medically necessary by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, and the Endocrine Society.

According to HRC, more than 550 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in statehouses this year, making 2023 the “worst year on record” for such legislation.