RALEIGH, N.C.: The top Republican in North Carolina's executive branch is throwing a blunt counterpunch to the Democratic governor's call to repeal the state's "bathroom bill," despite economic losses stemming from the legislation that's stirred up fierce debates about gender.
Lt. Gov. Dan Forest is fighting efforts to repeal House Bill 2, the law limiting LGBT protections and requiring transgender people to use public restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificate. Forest is a likely GOP candidate for governor in 2020.
The NCAA moved championship events out of North Carolina this year because of HB2 and could soon leave the state out of events through 2022.
Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican legislative leaders have been looking for a replacement, but Forest said they shouldn't succumb to "economic and corporate extortion."