Justice Department: North Carolina’s LGBT law amounts to ‘state-sponsored discrimination’

Video by PBS NewsHour

The U.S. government filed a lawsuit Monday over a controversial North Carolina law that prevented local governments from passing protections for gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual people. The law, which was passed in March, also required transgender people to use bathrooms that matched their assigned gender at birth.

In a news conference Monday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch said the law created “state-sponsored discrimination.” DOJ’s lawsuit seeks to prevent the law from being enforced.

The decision comes after hours after North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory sued the Justice Department in the state’s own lawsuit over the law, asking the U.S. government to “clarify” the country’s anti-discrimination laws. Last week, the Justice Department sent a letter to McCrory, saying North Carolina’s law violated civil rights protections, including Title IX, that banned workplace discrimination based on sex.