Roy Cooper Attorney General State of North Carolina Department of

STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
PAT MCCRORY
GOVERNOR
November 21, 2015
Roy Cooper
Attorney General
State of North Carolina
Department of Justice
P.O. Box 629
Raleigh, NC 27602
Dear Attorney General Cooper:
On November 18, the South Carolina Attorney General's Office requested that the State of North
Carolina sign on to an amicus brief in the case of G. G. v. Gloucester County School Board. 1 As
Governor, I request that you join this brief on behalf of the State of North Carolina.
In this case, the Obama Administration has joined with the A.C.L.U. in an attempt to force local
school districts to open sex-specific student locker rooms and bathrooms to individuals that are
not of that biological sex. This extreme position directly contradicts the express language of
federal law and threatens local control of our schools. It also disregards the safety and privacy
concerns of parents and students. The Obama Administration has already informed school
authorities in North Carolina and around the country of this directive, and is threatening resistant
schools with legal action and loss of federal funding.
This federal overreach is unacceptable and unnecessary. It must be stopped before our state's
schools are impacted. North Carolina schools are already capable of working with students
struggling with their gender identity in a compassionate manner to accommodate their needs
while preserving the rights of students and parents. A decision favoring the Obama
Administration in the Fourth Circuit would be binding precedent on North Carolina federal
courts. It would remove local districts' flexibility and force the federal government's extreme
views on all of our schools.
1 No.
15-2056, appealing G.G. v. Gloucester County Sch. Bd., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 124905 (E.D. Va. Sept. 17,
2015).
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In order for the State to have the strongest possible legal position in defending its schools, you,
as Attorney General, should sign on to the amicus brief. However, if you believe that President
Obama's federal directive is appropriate, I will sign on in my capacity as Governor of North
Carolina to protect the autonomy of our local school districts.
The South Carolina Attorney General's Office has set a deadline of noon on November 25, 2015
to join this brief. I will need for you to inform me of your decision by that time and no later so
that I may take all necessary and appropriate actions to ensure that North Carolina's interests are
represented in this case.
Sincerely,
@pz~
Governor of North Carolina