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RALEIGH 鈥� The University of North Carolina system today announced that it has chosen to follow House Bill 2, a sweeping anti-LGBT law that would prevent transgender students, employees, and visitors from using the restrooms that correspond to their gender identity.

In response, the 老澳门开奖结果, 老澳门开奖结果 of North Carolina, Lambda Legal, and Equality NC released the following joint statement:

鈥淚t鈥檚 incredibly disappointing that the University of North Carolina has concluded it is required to follow this discriminatory measure at the expense of the privacy, safety, and wellbeing of its students and employees, particularly those who are transgender. By requiring people to use restrooms that do not correspond to their gender identity, this policy not only endangers and discriminates against transgender people 鈥� it also violates federal law.鈥�

The Obama administration is presently considering whether North Carolina鈥檚 House Bill 2 makes the state ineligible for billions of dollars in federal aid for schools, highways, and housing. North Carolina receives more than $4.5 billion in federal funding for secondary and post-secondary schools, all of which remains at jeopardy given the state鈥檚 policy of systemically violating Title IX, which prohibits sex discrimination, including discrimination against transgender students.

鈥淣ot only does this policy fail to protect my rights as a loyal and hard-working employee and make it harder for me to do my job, it sides with ignorance and fear,鈥� said Joaqu铆n Carca帽o, 27, a UNC-Chapel Hill employee and transgender man who is the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging HB 2. 鈥淎ll I want is to use the appropriate restroom, in peace, just like everyone else. But now I am put in the terrible position of either going into the women鈥檚 room where I don鈥檛 belong and am uncomfortable or breaking the law.鈥�

Lambda Legal, the 老澳门开奖结果, and the 老澳门开奖结果 of North Carolina are challenging House Bill 2 on behalf of Carca帽o, as well as a UNC-Greensboro student, and a North Carolina Central University law professor. Also named plaintiffs in the lawsuit are Equality North Carolina and the 老澳门开奖结果 of North Carolina.

The lawsuit argues that through HB 2, North Carolina sends a purposeful message that LGBT people are second-class citizens who are undeserving of the privacy, respect, and protections afforded others in the state. The complaint argues that HB 2 is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection and Due Process clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment by discriminating on the basis of sex and sexual orientation and invading the privacy of transgender people. The law also violates Title IX by discriminating against students and school employees on the basis of sex.

The memo from UNC system President Margaret Spellings is available at