Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act

The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, commonly known as House Bill 2, Bathroom Bill, or HB2, was a North Carolina statute passed in March 2016 and signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory. The bill amended state law to preempt any anti-discrimination ordinances passed by local communities and, controversially, compelled schools and state and local government facilities containing single-gender bathrooms to only allow people of the corresponding sex as listed on their birth certificate to use them; it also gave the state exclusive rights to determine the minimum wage.

The bathroom portion of the bill generated immense criticism for preventing transgender people who did not or could not alter their birth certificates from using the restroom consistent with their gender identity (at the time in North Carolina, only people who undergo sex reassignment surgery could change the sex on their birth certificates, and outside jurisdictions have different rules, some more restrictive), and for changing the definition of sex in the state's anti-discrimination law to "the physical condition of being male or female, which is stated on a person's birth certificate." The removal of municipal anti-discrimination protections was also criticized, as state-level protections do not explicitly cover discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Opponents of the bill described it as the most anti-LGBT legislation in the United States, while proponents of HB2 called it "common sense" legislation.

HB2 was met with widespread protests: state, county and city governments across the United States forbade their employees from non-essential travel to North Carolina; numerous corporations and firms curbed plans to hold events and create jobs in the state, and many performers canceled performances in North Carolina to boycott the state; North Carolina's economy lost over $400 million in investments and jobs. The bill was also criticized by several religious organizations, and President Barack Obama denounced it and called for its repeal. McCrory ultimately lost his bid for re-election in 2016 to Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper, a vocal critic of the law.

The portion of the law regarding bathroom use was repealed on March 30, 2017, with the passage of House Bill 142 (Session 2017 of the North Carolina General Assembly). The remainder of HB2, which barred local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances, was repealed on December 1, 2020, by a sunset provision, which was inserted below the partial repeal in House Bill 142, passed on March 30, 2017.

In response to the full repeal on December 1, 2020, many local governments across North Carolina almost immediately enacted local laws to protect LGBT people from discrimination and other local governments are considering passing similar local laws.