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 The legislation came in response to such a provision approved last
month in Charlotte, the state's largest city, as part of an expanded
nondiscrimination ordinance that also added protections for marital
and familial status, sexual orientation, gender expression and
gender identity.
The bill passed both chambers of the legislature during a one-day
special session convened in Raleigh to address the Charlotte law.
Republican Governor Pat McCrory, who signed the bill late on
Wednesday, said the Charlotte measure "defies common sense."
“The basic expectation of privacy in the most personal of settings,
a restroom or locker room, for each gender was violated by
government overreach and intrusion by the mayor and city council of
Charlotte," McCrory said in a statement.
 Controversy over the bathroom component echoed similar fights across
the country as transgender advocates push for the right to choose
restrooms and locker rooms, including in schools, based on gender
identity rather than birth gender.
Republican lawmakers in North Carolina warned that the "radical"
Charlotte measure would create a public safety issue by giving men,
including sex offenders, access to women's bathrooms if allowed to
take effect on April 1.
"This is a common sense bill that protects the privacy expectations
of our citizens while clarifying local authority," said Republican
Representative Paul Stam.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender advocacy groups condemned the
law's passage and said they were exploring legal challenges. They
say no public safety risks had resulted in the more than 200 U.S.
cities that have enacted protections similar to those passed in
Charlotte.
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"We are disappointed that Governor McCrory did not do right by North
Carolina’s families, communities, and businesses by vetoing this
horribly discriminatory bill," said Chris Brook, legal director of
the state's American Civil Liberties Union.
The bill requires multiple-occupancy bathrooms and locker rooms in
public schools and government buildings to be used by people only
according to their biological sex.
The measure also creates North Carolina's first statewide
nondiscrimination policy for public places, including restaurants,
hotels and taxis. But it limits the protections against
discrimination to race, religion, color, national origin and
biological sex.
Local governments would be prohibited from passing
anti-discrimination ordinances that extended the protections to
include gender identity and sexual orientation.
(Additional reporting by Victoria Cavaliere in New York; Editing by
Jeffrey Benkoe, David Gregorio, Bernard Orr, Michael Perry)
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