Waynesville locker room controversy sparks discussion on NC’s bathroom laws, trans rights
By Taylor Thompson
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ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — An investigation into a Facebook post that accused an adult male of going into the women’s locker room at the Waynesville Recreation Center was found to be baseless, but it opened the door to a bigger question of what North Carolina’s laws are when it comes to the control local governments have or don’t have over public restrooms.
It all started on July 12 when an individual accused a transgender woman of going into the women’s locker room and changing into a bathing suit in front of minors. The claim sparked an investigation by the Waynesville Police Department that found the post to be false and determined there was no wrongdoing.
The investigation led many people to attend last Tuesday’s town council meeting to show support for the trans community, but it was also a time when town attorney Martha Bradley explained that using the bathroom you identify with is the law in North Carolina.
“In North Carolina, towns literally only have the authority that the General Assembly gives them,” she said.
Political analyst Chris Cooper, a professor at Western Carolina University, said House Bill 2 which was signed into law in 2016 said people could use the bathroom that matched their gender at the time they were born. In 2017, the North Carolina General Assembly passed HB142, which repealed the infamous bathroom bill.
“You can essentially use the bathroom that you would like to use,” Cooper explained.
That means cities and towns cannot restrict who can and cannot use certain bathrooms.
“Essentially removed any legal authority from municipalities or counties from adopting policies related to the use of gender restrooms or locker rooms,” Bradley explained to those who attended last week’s council meeting. “Those of you on both sides of this issue who have asked the town to act in regard to locker rooms and restrooms, we legally cannot.”
Bradley said the town can only have staff in each facility so if anyone has an uncomfortable experience or anything they believe to be a criminal violation there will be staff on site.
She also said that if people are concerned about sharing a locker room, gender-neutral facilities with locked changing rooms and private restrooms are also available.
Cooper said the bathroom/locker room controversy in Waynesville was not an isolated incident.
“We’re seeing these kinds of little issues sprout up throughout the country. Of course, this one appears to be baseless, essentially made up that there was no real threat going on in these bathrooms,” he said.
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