Abstract:
In the debate over House Bill 2, opinions diverge on who is the intimidator. The author talks about why efforts to find a compromise broke down and how the value of freedom versus security played a role. For opponents of the “bathroom bill,” state lawmakers were bullies dictating to local officials what ordinances they could pass and which bathrooms transgender North Carolinians could use in government buildings. For supporters of HB2, out-of-state interests were the bullies who were using boycotts and other pressure to dictate what laws could be passed and what their bathroom policies could be.