In recent news, the state of North Carolina passed the House Bill 2 Act, not allowing transgender individuals to use the bathroom of their preferred sex or sue if they feel discriminated against.

Students are sharing their opinions and concerns about the HB2 Act, including the portion that denies the rights of LGBT people to sue if they are discriminated against at work or as a patron of a business.

“I feel like that is pushing everything back and making things worse. I don’t feel like they should be able to do that,” senior Tajanai Bland said.

Sophomore Michael Doria also has similar feelings about the law.

“Stupid. It’s the 21st century, and America is a place of freedom. Just because you’re a white Christian man doesn’t mean you are above everyone else,” Doria said.

Senior Kennedy Smith believes that this act is unfair to LGBT individuals.

“It annoys me because everyone should be treated like a human. We all bleed, we all cry, we’re all human,” Smith said.

Senior Christian Green thinks the exclusion of the discrimination of the law would have helped the act as a whole not be as controversial.

“I feel like it was a portion that was not meant to be put in, but since it was it kind of sent us back to a time that America isn’t really proud of. It just seems like a huge circle,” Green said. “I feel like this portion of the bill is creating the most controversy because not only is it morally wrong, it is unfair and downright horrible.”

Alongside the discrimination law is the portion of the law that concerns the bathroom issue. Many students also felt strongly about this portion and are comfortable sharing their true feelings.

“I think it’s a huge step back and a slap in the face for the LGBT community,” senior Becca Perry said. “This should be a time of progress in our state and even in our country, and this just completely diminishes any civil rights progress that the LGBT community has made. NC just looks dumb for passing this law.”

Freshman Lexi Murray thinks that the bathroom portion of the law itself could lead to discrimination.

“I think that people should be able to use the bathroom according to what they identify as. I don’t think we should make transgender people deal with the embarrassment of a ‘female’ going into a male bathroom when nobody would notice if they just went into the women’s bathroom. It would cause more of a controversy if males saw a ‘female’ going into their bathroom or if females saw a ‘male’ going into their bathroom,” Murray said.

This being said, there are some students who believe that the bathroom portion of the law is justified.

“I feel like everyone has the right to change genders, but they shouldn’t change bathroom laws just to accommodate those people. There doesn’t need to be unisex bathrooms,” senior Graham McCorkle said.

Freshman Victoria Michel had a similar opinion.

“I think is kind of unfair for those who see themselves as someone else, but it could also be a safety hazard for some of those people, so I think they should probably be thinking about those people,” Michel said.

For some of the students that agree with this portion of the law, they bring up the argument of sexual safety.

“I agree because it’s a privacy law. If I had a daughter, I wouldn’t want a guy in there while she’s doing her business,” junior Mitchell Piechocki said.

Even though this law controversial , students have some ideas for compromise.

Smith said, “I feel like that people should have the right to use their own bathroom, like have their own special one where people don’t get judged where no one should be ashamed to just have to go to the bathroom.”