On Thursday, the North Carolina General Assembly yet again chose to codify discrimination against the LGBT community with the passage of House Bill 142. 

Responding to an ultimatum from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Senate Leader Phil Berger (R) and House Speaker Tim Moore (R), along with Gov. Roy Cooper (D), produced a deal that would repeal and replace House Bill 2. The new deal, while repealing the original law, put into place a four-year ban that prohibits local governments from passing employment nondiscrimination ordinances, allowing employers to fire LGBT North Carolinians simply because of their identity. According to experts, such as Allen Smith of the Society of Human Resource management, this ban would also stop localities from raising the minimum wage. The deal also made a point to keep the authority of bathroom regulation in the purview of the state legislature, the entire reason HB2 became a national story after all.

I voted for Roy Cooper, because I cared about his promise for a clean repeal of HB2. So much of his platform and support hinged on this critical issue, yet when he could have stood strong against an oppressive legislature, he caved. I cannot help but feel Governor Cooper has thrown many of his most ardent supporters under the bus, simply to return a few basketball games to the state. Actions such as these would be expected from the Republicans in our legislature, yet not from the man whose core platform hinged on the repeal of an oppressive, discriminatory law.

The state government may be against the LGBT community, as is our current presidential administration, yet I simply will not spend the next four years hoping for new leadership. Right now groups such as the ACLU, ENC and HRC stand opposed to HB 142 at the state level, yet we cannot simply ignore the transgender students on campus.

I have had transgender friends mocked and screamed at on this very campus, simply for using the restroom that matches their gender identity. From what I have seen, the transgender community has a whole lot more to fear from others, than the “vulnerable” women and children of North Carolina do, regardless of what our legislature would like you to believe.

When it comes to housing on our campus, transgender students must live with roommates and suitemates of the gender on their birth certificate, as the UNC Board of Governors banned gender-inclusive housing in 2013. To change this decision would be an uphill climb, yet there are simple changes we could make as a university to provide safer and more comfortable housing for the community. Allowing accommodations so that trans students can have roommates accepting of their gender identity is not a radical concept, but rather it is one that provides for our students’ basic safety. Additionally, placing transgender students in Avent Ferry and North Hall would not force students to use a restroom unaligned with their gender identity as so often happens.

I personally believe that we can do better than this as a university. We need to be introspective as a student body, and inclusive in our decisions and language. As the president of the GLBT Community Alliance for the upcoming 2017–18 school year, I will speak up against HB 142. I want a strong North Carolina economy, but I also want a state that is inclusive and looking out for those oppressed. I also want to attend a school where transgender students can feel comfortable enough to be their true selves.