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Legislation similar to controversial 2016 "bathroom bill" introduced in N.C. Senate

A gender-neutral sign is posted outside a bathrooms at a restaurant in Durham, N.C. Many North Carolina businesses put gender-neutral signs on toilets after the "bathroom bill" was passed.
Sara D. Davis
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File: A gender-neutral sign is posted outside a bathrooms at a restaurant in Durham, N.C. Many North Carolina businesses put gender-neutral signs on toilets after the 2016 "bathroom bill" was passed.

Two Republican state senators filed legislation this week that's similar to the bathroom bill repealed by the legislature several years ago.

The 2016 bill banned transgender people from using public bathrooms that match their gender identity. It was repealed after major companies and events boycotted North Carolina.

The new bill would reinstate those bathroom restrictions. It would also ban transgender people from changing the gender on their birth certificates and other government documents. Senate leader Phil Berger told reporters he'll consider the bill.

“We always want to do as much as we can to protect women and girls, and if there is a need and if the caucus is wanting to proceed with this, we'll kinda see where things go,” he said.

Berger isn't sponsoring the bill, but he said it's similar to legislation filed in other states.