A new law in North Carolina now requires people to use public bathrooms according to the gender they were born with. This prompted massive protests from LGBT activists for discrimination. State universities and colleges have no choice but to implement the law.

The new bill called "Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act" was approved by North Carolina's lawmakers, Washington Post reports. The bill prohibits non-discrimination protections against gay and transgender people, which earned the ire of LGBT activists. However, supporters say that it is intended to maximize privacy.

"As a state institution, the university has an obligation to comply with laws passed by our state's general assembly," university spokeswoman Joni Worthington said. However, she added that they will not go to extreme measures to strictly oversee bathrooms.

University of North Carolina President Margaret Spellings announced that all 17 campuses will follow the bathroom bill. Fox News reports that all campus bathrooms must be labeled for single-sex use only. However, schools may have gender-neutral changing rooms and restrooms. Furthermore, the bill states that campuses can keep their gay and transgender nondiscrimination policies.

Spelling has been criticized by the North Carolina chapter of ACLU and filed a lawsuit that challenges the bill.

"By requiring people to use restrooms that do not correspond to their gender identity, this policy not only endangers and discriminates against transgender people, it also violates federal law," they wrote in a statement.


Hundreds of students in North Carolina gathered in Chapel Hill last week to protest the new law, as per News & Observer. University of North Carolina faculty staff also joined the opposition protests. Bruce Springsteen opposed the new law by canceling his performance in the state. The Guardian reports that all tickets sold for the North Carolina show will be refunded.

Tags North Carolina, University of North Carolina, Lgbt, Discrimination