“If we want to preserve the proud heritage of North Carolina, it is time for our leadership to consider a substantial and immediate repeal of HB 2.”
–North Carolina State Sen. Tamara Barringer (R-Cary), the first Republican to call for the repeal of the state’s anti-LGBT HB 2 law, which restricts transgender people’s access to restrooms and repeals local LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination ordinances.
Although Barringer has called for repeal of the law, she insists she still doesn’t want biological males to use women’s locker rooms or bathrooms.
“Whenever legislative bodies rush to judgment on important public policy decisions, there are unintended consequences,” Barringer said in an emailed statement to The News & Observer. “With the most recent announcements impacting our state, there are simply too many examples of very sad and unfortunate ramifications and unintended effects of HB 2.”
“I did not realize the consequences of this bill, that it would have worldwide consequences, and they just keep piling up,” Barringer told WRAL. “So, at this point, I’m willing to stand up and say, ‘Let’s put the brakes on it. Let’s get together and find a common solution that we call can live with and move forward.”
Barringer represents one of the more competitive districts in the state senate, and faces a strong challenge in November from Wake County school board member Susan Evans. A spokesman for Evans issued a statement saying her last-minute conversion won’t help Barringer save her seat.
“When she voted for HB 2 in March, Sen. Barringer knew what she was doing,” said Evans campaign spokesman Dustin Ingalls. “She knew the legal and economic consequences her constituents would experience. Only now that she’s in danger of losing her seat does she waffle.
“Her latest change of mind is certainly not a change of heart. It’s a purely political move designed to make voters forget that she is responsible for the loss of jobs and millions of dollars in economic investment in her district.”
The U.S. Air Force is rescinding a ban on including preferred pronouns in email signatures and other communications. The military branch announced the change in a news release.
The reversal was signed by Acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs Gwendolyn DeFilippi.
The earlier directive, signed by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, was issued on January 31 to comply with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump stating that the United States government will only recognize two sexes -- male and female -- as legitimate.
U.S. Rep. Becca Balint has introduced a bill to protect and expand access to gender-affirming care for transgender individuals at a time when the Trump administration is seeking to restrict the practice.
The Vermont Democrat's bill -- the Transgender Health Care Access Act -- establishes grants to support medical education programs and professional training in transition-related care, and to expand access to such services in rural communities.
She introduced the bill on March 31, coinciding with Transgender Day of Visibility.
The congresswoman noted in a news release that in a survey of students at 10 medical schools, nearly 4 in 5 students did not feel competent at treating transgender patients suffering from gender dysphoria.
Jo Ellis, a transgender pilot in the Virginia Army National Guard, is suing a right-wing influencer Matthew Wallace for claiming she was flying the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines plane, causing a fatal crash that claimed the lives of all 67 people inside both aircraft.
Ellis claims Wallace, who has 2.3 million followers on X, exploited the January 29 tragedy for "clicks and money" and accuses Wallace of deliberately spreading information he knew to be false.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado.
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