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North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory filed suit Monday against the Department of Justice in a bid to preserve the state’s controversial “bathroom” law, after the Obama administration said the policy violates the civil rights of transgender people.
The state was facing a Monday deadline set by the administration to respond to its demand that North Carolina either scrap the law or face legal action and risk losing federal funds.
McCrory refused, and instead filed suit.
"The Department’s position is a baseless and blatant overreach," the suit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of North Carolina, says. "This is an attempt to unilaterally rewrite long-established federal civil rights laws in a manner that is wholly inconsistent with the intent of Congress and disregards decades of statutory interpretation by the Courts."
McCrory, speaking later at a press conference, said Congress should get involved and “bring clarity” to federal anti-discrimination provisions – but urged the court to intervene in the current dispute.