A Vietnam War veteran born a man but now identifying as a woman has defied North Carolina's controversial "bathroom bill" by posting a photo of himself in a women's restroom at Charlotte Government Center.
"I refuse to use the men's room. I will use the ladies room … I wanted to show that I defied [Governor Pat McCrory]. I wanted to show him that I'm not going to comply," Janice Allison told
WBTV.
The Tar Heel State's House Bill 2, signed by McCrory, overturned the Charlotte City' Councils non-discrimination ordinance allowing people to choose the bathroom or locker room of their gender they identify with instead of what sex they were born.
"We've been doing what we've been doing for many, many years and now all the sudden it's wrong," said Allison, a Democrat who has worked as a volunteer fire chief and a construction business owner.
She told WBTV that she said had kept her transgender status a secret for many years, because in the past, "If I came out as me, as Janice, I wouldn't be standing here today I'm sure. I'd be hung up in a tree."
The Justice Department is suing North Carolina over HB2 law, calling it a violation of the federal Civil Rights Act.
The state's governor and legislature "created state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals who simply seek to engage in the most private of functions," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said last month.
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