The North Carolina General Assembly sent a bill to Gov. Pat McCrory Wednesday that bars local governments from passing nondiscrimination ordinances and prevents people from using bathrooms based on the gender with which they personally identify. McCrory signed the bill into law hours later.

After three hours of debate, the Senate voted 32-0 in favor of the bill. Eleven of the Democrats present left in protest because they said they were excluded from writing or amending the bill.

The next step for the bill was McCrory’s office. His office released a statement late Wednesday that stated he had signed the bill.

In a tweet Wednesday night at 10:16 p.m., McCrory explained why he signed the bill into law.

“Ordinance defied common sense, allowing men to use women’s bathroom/locker room for instance,” his tweet stated. “That’s why I signed a bipartisan bill to stop it.”

The bill was prompted by Charlotte’s nondiscrimination ordinance that included the bathroom provision, which McCrory opposed. The bill is named House Bill 2, the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act, and it strikes down Charlotte’s ordinance because it prohibits local governments from enacting their own legislation to ban discrimination.

Instead, the bill creates a statewide law that bans discrimination on the basis of “race, religion, color, national origin or biological sex” at businesses and other “places of public accommodation.” However, the law does not prevent citizens from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In opposition to the General Assembly’s action, Roy Cooper, the Democratic nominee for governor, posted a video and said the legislature is “putting discrimination into law.”

Once McCrory signed the bill, 17 cities and towns had their nondiscrimination ordinances revoked, according to Equality NC.

Bans for school districts

Due to the passing of House Bill 2, students will now not be allowed to use communal bathrooms and locker rooms that do not match their biological sex. Transgender students will be allowed to use single-occupancy restrooms.

These measures will only be enacted in public schools and facilities and will not affect the practices of private businesses.

Employees contracted to do government work could also be discriminated against on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, as the passing of this bill does not offer protection.

Are federal funds threatened?

Democrats expressed concerns that North Carolina could lose $4 billion in federal education funding for violating Title IX nondiscrimination requirements. Republicans responded by saying separate facilities are permitted by law, but if the state is found to be violating Title IX, it would have plenty of time to comply to avoid losing the money.

Democrats were upset that the Republican majority rushed a bill to the floor, and it was only being seen for the first time that day.

Republicans added biological sex to the list of nondiscrimination factors, which includes race and religion. Biological sex means the sex listed on someone’s birth certificate, according to the bill.

Democrats sought to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the protected categories, but Republicans rejected the amendments. Republicans argued that the state law allows for transgender people to change the sex listed on their birth certificates after gender reassignment surgery.

Minimum wage

Another unexpected part of this law also prohibits NC cities and counties from establishing living-wage ordinances because, now, businesses cannot pay workers more than the state-established minimum wage.

“Gov. McCrory started us down this path, promising legislative action for political gain,” Cooper said in his video. “Now the legislature is taking unprecedented actions that will threaten our economy. He lit the match then stood aside as the fire grew out of control.”

NCBlackLivesMatter and QTPOC (Queer Trans-people of Color) are organizing a rally in front of the Governor’s Mansion Thursday at 5:45 p.m.