Despite Tennessee saying, Hold my beer
While the world’s attention focused on Tennessee yesterday, the NC GOP took advantage of its new House majority (that’s another story) to pull draft bills out of drawers meant to attack disfavored minorities the way Tennessee legislators expelled two Black members on Thursday.
ABC 11 Raleigh:
North Carolina Republican lawmakers filed several bills aimed at regulating transgender youth especially when it comes to participation in sports.
These bills are similar to ones GOP lawmakers pushed a couple years ago. While those bills failed, Republicans are hopeful their new supermajority — achieved by getting Mecklenburg Democratic Rep. Tricia Cotham to switch parties — will be able to force the bills through.
There are two bills in the legislatures that would ban transgender athletes in some way. Legislation in the house and senate would require all sports teams be designated as male, female or co-ed based on their biological sex at birth.
It’s what the NC GOP does when attention is diverted or when SCOTUS lets them.
https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2023/Bills/House/PDF/H574v0.pdf
https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2023/Bills/Senate/PDF/S631v0.pdf
https://www.ncleg.gov/Sessions/2023/Bills/Senate/PDF/S636v0.pdf
The problem is that North Carolina has already had its bathroom bill financial backlash. Now attention will focus on the actions of Tennessee’s GOP. Whack-a-mole politics works for Republicans.