5 Things to Know: New Bathroom Bill, Bokhari Resigns, Ardrey Kell Update

New Bathroom Bill Filed in NCGA

Nearly a decade after House Bill 2 caused large corporations across the spectrum to disinvest from the state, Republicans this week introduced a new “bathroom bill” targeting transgender folks.

Republicans in the NC Senate on Tuesday filed Senate Bill 516, which if passed would require transgender people to use the restroom associated with the gender they were assigned at birth in certain facilities that receive government funding such as public schools, domestic violence shelters and prisons, among other venues.

“Women and girls deserve privacy, dignity, and safety. That’s why I’m proud to introduce SB 516: The Women’s Safety and Protection Act,” wrote NC Sen. Vickie Sawyer, who represents parts of Mecklenburg County, on Twitter. “This isn’t a repeat of HB2. It’s a focused, reasonable step to protect North Carolina women and girls.”

Responding to Sawyer’s tweet, progressive statewide think tank Carolina Forward wrote, “What [Sen. Sawyer] doesn’t want you to know is that this bill will require every public school and college in North Carolina to individually inspect every person and child that uses any public restroom on its property. Anyone want to guess how that’s going to work?”

In her own statement, NC Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton compared the new bill to the infamous HB2, which cost the state billions of dollars amid national backlash.

“This is a ploy by the Republican party to distract and divide — and doesn’t do a thing to address the pressing needs that North Carolinians are feeling in their pocket books and in their schools,” Clayton wrote. “The title of the bill is ‘Women’s Safety and Protection Act’ and that pisses me off. You want to protect women? How about addressing North Carolina’s maternal mortality rate, which is higher than the national average.

“You want to protect women? Thirty-five percent of North Carolina women have experienced intimate partner violence and/or sexual violence,” she continued. “How about you do something about that, instead of making it easier for domestic abusers to buy and carry guns? You want to protect women? The median North Carolina woman earns over $7,500 less than the median man. Women need the government to step up in a lot of different ways. Women do not need Republicans to attack the basic human rights of our transgender community.”

Family of Boy Involved in Ardrey Kell Assault Speaks Out

The family of a boy who seriously injured one of his classmates, a Muslim girl, in a fight earlier this month broke its silence this week, issuing a statement in defense of the boy and claiming discrimination or prejudice played no part in the incident.

The family of the 15-year-old female student at Ardrey Kell High School says she was targeted by a male student of the same age due to her Muslim faith. Her family says days of alleged verbal harassment turned physical during a math class on March 7 when her male classmate beat her so badly she had to be taken to the hospital with multiple broken bones in her face and will need to undergo reparative surgery.

As we reported earlier this month, the FBI was brought in to investigate whether the incident met the definition of a hate crime. There’s been no update since then on the findings of that investigation.

On Thursday, the family of the boy involved in the incident released a statement insisting that, “This situation has been mischaracterized, as race, culture nor religion played a factor in the altercation.

“Instead, there was direct, incessant bullying by a female student which led to her physically assaulting our son,” the statement continues. “Despite his witnessed attempts to de-escalate her threatening actions for nearly 10 minutes, she still chose violence — making it necessary for him to defend himself. As a family of color who works to raise our children with strong moral values, we can say with confidence of our son and from witnesses that no racially derogatory terms were used during this encounter, and the altercation was fully instigated by the female student.”

The family went on to state that they are gathering witness statements from teachers and students in preparation for legal proceedings, then thanked the local Fruit of Islam and Charlotte-Mecklenburg chapter of the NAACP for working together to mediate the situation.

On March 21, the girl underwent her first round of reconstructive surgery as a result of injuries suffered during the incident and will need to have a plate placed in her face to help mend the broken bones. There have been no reports of what, if any, injuries were suffered by the boy who was involved in the incident.

Bokhari to Step Down from City Council, Take Role in Trump Admin

WFAE broke the story late Tuesday afternoon that Charlotte City Council representative Tariq Bokhari, one of only two Republicans on the council, will resign from that position to join the Trump administration. Bokhari is set to become the deputy administrator for the Federal Transit Administration, the No. 2 position in the agency.

Charlotte City Council will be responsible for appointing a Republican replacement to finish out Bokhari’s term, which ends in December. The first person to put themself forward to fill that spot was Tariq’s wife, Krista Bokhari, who ran unsuccessfully against Democratic incumbent Brandon Lofton in 2024 to represent District 104 in the NC House of Representatives.

During her 2024 race, Krista built a platform based on addressing the ideas that “Our students are struggling, our criminal justice system has become a revolving door, our children are in the midst of a mental health epidemic, [and] our infrastructure and neighborhoods are being negatively impacted by the [Unified Development Ordinance].”

Council member Malcolm Graham, whom Tariq publicly called a “political hack” in 2021, has already voiced his reluctance to replace one Bokhari with another, telling WSOC’s Joe Bruno that he would prefer not to appoint family members as replacements but that he will consider all who apply in the process that’s to come.

It’s unclear who else will apply for the appointment as of the time of this writing, though it’s expected many more will do so. Whomever council chooses, they will face a re-election campaign almost immediately if they choose to pursue a full term in the seat. It’s expected to be another closely contested race, as Democrat Stephanie Hand came within 500 votes of winning the seat from Bokhari in the two previous elections in 2022 and 2023.

Opioid Settlement Meeting Gives Glimpse at County Efforts

Mecklenburg County Public Health (MCPH) on Thursday hosted its annual meeting to discuss the local opioid crisis and how dollars from the National Opioid Settlement — $73 million over 18 years starting in 2022 — can be most effectively used to produce the most impactful results and solutions.

Read more: New Stats Show Widening Racial Disparities in Local Overdose Deaths

Mecklenburg County leaders shared strategies and data based on how funds have been utilized thus far. During the past year through MCPH, Alliance Health and other community partners, Mecklenburg County officials say they have distributed more than 10,000 Naloxone kits; provided early intervention services to 1,135 individuals; connected more than 700 residents to treatment for opioid use disorder; provided nearly 800 community members with recovery support; helped 368 clients with employment related services; connected 211 clients to housing support and more.

“What’s exciting about this work is, not only are we helping people with their addiction, but we’re also helping them to rebuild their lives,” said Mecklenburg County Manager Dena R. Diorio. “It’s no longer just a tragic story, it’s now a story of recovery, resilience and reclamation of lives.”

NC State AFL-CIO Responds to New Trump Cuts

North Carolina State AFL-CIO President MaryBe McMillan responded on Friday to a new executive order from the Trump administration stripping collective bargaining and union rights from 700,000 workers in more than 30 agencies across the federal government, including over 82,000 workers in North Carolina.

“North Carolina’s labor movement strongly condemns President Trump’s illegal action to deprive federal workers across our country of their fundamental freedom to unionize,” wrote McMillan in a statement. “Trump is punishing people who care for our veterans, ensure the safety of our food and drug supply, respond to emergencies, and do so much more for having the courage to defend themselves and the critical public services they provide from an unelected billionaire and a President who would see himself a king with the right to do as he pleases.

“Unions of working people have been the principal organized opposition to Trump’s Project 2025 agenda, and this attempt to break our resolve by busting our unions is payback,” McMillan continued, calling on US Sens. Thom Tillis and Ted Budd to defend federal workers’ rights and stand up against the “illegal action.”

“We will not be silenced,” stated McMillan, who oversees the largest association of unions of working people in North Carolina, representing 145,000 members. “We know that our solidarity is our strength, and we will continue to stand up and stand together until our freedom and our democratic rights are restored.”