CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- After last week's election cemented Republican control of North Carolina's General Assembly, there appears to be no groundswell to change House Bill 2 -- the law that overturned a Charlotte ordinance extending legal protections to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community.
"The discussion about HB2 is over, the people have spoken," said Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of the NC Values Coalition, which strongly supports the law.
The law bars local governments from enacting similar measures and requires transgender people to use the public bathroom of the gender on their birth certificate.
The election may have not only reaffirmed the legislation in Raleigh, but in Washington.
That's because the law is currently in federal court, a legal challenge on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court considers a Virginia case involving transgender rights. That case, which would have a direct bearing on the North Carolina law, could be decided by a court with a new justice appointed by Republican President Donald Trump.
And a new Republican-led Justice Department would likely no longer fight HB2 like the current department.
"This issue has been scrambled by the election," said John Hood, president of the Pope Foundation. "A Trump Justice Department and Supreme Court is not going to do what a Democratic Department of Justice and Supreme Court did."
Supporters say the so-called bathroom bill guarantees privacy and safety, particularly for women and children.
But some companies have cited it as their reason for going elsewhere. It's why celebrities have canceled appearances and why the NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference pulled tournament games from the state. And why business leaders continue to push for change.
"We don't know what the answer is, but we need a solution," said Bob Morgan, president of the Charlotte Chamber. "The status quo will likely result in further economic damage to our state. ... Whether you're for or against what the state did in passing HB2, we have a problem."
While some lawmakers say there could be some changes, they don't expect the law to go away.
Last month a Charlotte Observer poll found that 55 percent of likely North Carolina voters believed the law should be repealed. But nearly as many support requiring transgender people to use public bathrooms of the gender on their birth certificate.
Republicans emerged from last Tuesday's election with their legislative majorities intact. They preserved their supermajorities, even gaining a seat in the Senate. Charlotte Republican Dan Bishop, an architect of the law, won election to the Senate with nearly 57 percent of the vote.
But HB2 was an issue in a handful of legislative races and, possibly, in the governor's race.
Republican Gov. Pat McCrory trails Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper by about 5,000 votes, though thousands of provisional and absentee ballots have yet to be counted. McCrory signed HB2 into law in March. While other issues hurt McCrory -- including opposition to tolling on Interstate 77 in Mecklenburg County -- some voters said they voted against him because of HB2.
Hood, of the Pope Foundation, said the question isn't necessarily to repeal or not repeal. The administration could take other steps such as requiring more single-occupancy, gender-neutral restrooms in public buildings.
"If you ask [leaders], 'Do you think there will be conversations about these issues going forward?' The answer is probably yes," he said.
The debate over the law has driven a wedge further between Charlotte, which is governed by Democrats, and the Republicans who control the General Assembly.
John Autry, a Charlotte City Council member, knows that.
Autry was a prime advocate of the ordinance that prompted HB2. Since his election last week to the North Carolina House, the Democrat has practiced for the reception he expects in Raleigh.
At home, he wears a sign taped to his back. It says simply, "Kick me."
A Section on 11/15/2016