WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY -- NC LAWMAKERS AND GOVERNOR COOPER SELL OUT LGBTQ COMMUNITY WITH DISCRIMINATORY HB2.0: In a shocking betrayal of the LGBTQ community, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper yesterday signed into law a measure he falsely and touted as a “repeal” of the discriminatory HB2. In fact, the new law enshrines deep, harmful and unconstitutional anti-LGBTQ discrimination into state law. His action drew a swift and angry rebuke from civil rights advocates across the nation. “After more than a year of inaction, Gov. Cooper and North Carolina lawmakers doubled-down on discrimination,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “This new law does not repeal HB2. Instead, it institutes a statewide prohibition on equality by banning non-discrimination protections across North Carolina and fuels the flames of anti-transgender hate. Gov. Cooper and each and every lawmaker who supported this bill has betrayed the LGBTQ community. HRC will explore every legal action to combat this dangerous legislation, and we urge all businesses, sports leagues and entertainers who have fought against HB2 to continue standing strong with the LGBTQ community attacked by this hateful law.” The law bans LGBTQ non-discrimination protections statewide through 2020 and permanently bars cities from passing laws that ensure transgender people can access restroom and similar facilities in accordance with their identity. More from HRC.

• Businesses, celebrities, politicians and LGBTQ and allied leaders like the NAACP call for North Carolina lawmakers to reject this unconstitutional backroom “deal” on HB2. Check out the top names here.
• Top headlines: The New York Times Editorial Board, “North Carolina’s Bait-and-Switch on Transgender Restroom Law;” Steven Petrow for The Washington Post, “You can’t compromise on civil rights. But North Carolina just did.;” The Charlotte Observer Editorial Board, “HB2 repeal: Cooper turns back on LGBT community;” Slate, “The HB2 “Repeal” Bill Is an Unmitigated Disaster for LGBTQ Rights and North Carolina;” Mother Jones, “Don't Be Fooled. The North Carolina "Compromise" Doesn't Actually Protect Trans Rights;” Dorie Clark writing in Fortune, “North Carolina’s Bathroom Bill Repeal Won’t Bring the NCAA Back;” ESPN, “NCAA, NBA and ACC say they're pro-LGBT -- now's their chance to prove it;” The Nation, “ The So-Called ‘Repeal’ of North Carolina’s Bathroom Bill Is a Terrible Deal for Civil Rights”
• On PBS Newshour, Senior Legislative Counsel Kate Oakley broke down what this discriminatory HB2.0 law means and how it will continue to harm the LGBTQ community Watch here.

Today, @RoyCooperNC signed into law a so-called “repeal" of #HB2. Here's a breakdown from @HRC's Senior Legislative Counsel Kate Oakley pic.twitter.com/4tvPqQ9a3u

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) March 31, 2017

It ain't over until the LGBT community and the ACLU say it's over. https://t.co/kiZlCFeDVb

— Stevie Van Zandt (@StevieVanZandt) March 30, 2017

CIVIL RIGHTS LEADERS CALL ON NCAA TO #StayStrong AND OPPOSE SHAMEFUL HB2.0: In advance of a decision expected within days by the NCAA Board of Directors on whether to allow tournament events to be held in North Carolina, the North Carolina NAACP, HRC, Equality North Carolina, the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), and the Freedom Center for Social Justice, issued this joint statement after Cooper signed the egregious new legislation: “We call on the NCAA to oppose this shameful HB2.0 bill in North Carolina, and not to reward lawmakers who have passed this so-called ‘deal’ which is an affront to the values we all hold. This bill is anti-worker, anti-access to the courts, and anti-LGBTQ. It violates all basic principles of diversity, inclusion and basic civil rights. Fundamentally, any moratorium on civil rights is not a compromise, it is a contradiction with the principle of equal protection under the law and our moral values.” More from HRC.

This #HB2 "repeal" violates all basic principles of diversity, inclusion, and civil rights. It is not a compromise. 1/3

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) March 30, 2017

It is a contradiction of the @NCAA’s pledge to protect the safety and well-being of their #LGBTQ community. 2/3

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) March 30, 2017

.@HRC calls on @NCAA to oppose this "deal" & not reward lawmakers who have passed this law. Join us-text “Stay Strong” to 30644. 3/3

— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) March 30, 2017

“DEATH BY 1000 CUTS” -- TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S CONTINUED ATTACKS ON LGBTQ EQUALITY: In a new piece from The Guardian, reporter Sabrina Siddiqui (@SabrinaSiddiqui) catalogs the ways the Trump Administration has undermined LGBTQ equality since he took office -- including  excluding “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as proposed topics for inclusion in the American Community Survey, overseen by the U.S. Census Bureau . Trump this week also signed a law overturning regulations on an Obama-era executive order requiring the Office for Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) to consider potential government contractors prior compliance  with federal anti-discrimination laws prior to awarding a contract -- action that HRC Government Affairs Director David Stacy says, “signals that the administration could continue to repeal Obama-era policies aimed at protecting LGBTQ people.” Further evidence that Trump is no friend of the LGBTQ community:

• Trump quietly selected anti-equality extremist Roger Severino to serve as Director of the Office for Civil Rights at HHS;

• He nominated anti-equality Neil Gorsuch to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States;

• His Department of Housing and Urban Development withdrew two notices, one  eliminating a requirement for emergency shelters receiving HUD funding to post information about LGBTQ people’s rights to access shelter safely and in accordance with their gender identity and the other affecting data collection and implementation guidelines for a homelessness prevention initiative targeting LGBTQ youth;

• And the Trump administration last month rescinded guidance from the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education regarding schools’ obligations to transgender students under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

More from The Guardian.

FRIDAY FEATURE: The Healthcare Equality Index 2017 uses new scoring criteria that includes a section called “Responsible Citizenship,” which focuses on known activity that would undermine LGBTQ equality or patient care. This year, Johns Hopkins Hospital received a 25-point reduction for Johns Hopkins Medicine’s failure to address HRC’s concerns regarding deeply disturbing anti-LGBTQ misinformation voiced and published by faculty members Paul McHugh and Lawrence Mayer. As promoters of anti-LGBTQ laws and policies, including California’s ban on same-sex marriage and North Carolina’s law restricting restroom access for transgender people, Drs. McHugh and Mayer have repeatedly promoted disproven claims about LGBTQ people. In a piece for LGBTQ Nation, writer Dawn Ennis (@LifeAfterDawn) lays out the specious, non-scientific claims the duo have made in legal testimony and political publications -- assertions at odds with current science on gender or sexual orientation. More from LGBTQ Nation.

TODAY -- TRANSGENDER DAY OF VISIBILITY: Today we join in celebrating the transgender community and to help raise awareness of the struggles they face. HRC is using this week to highlight trans youth making a difference, to praise workplaces supporting transgender employees and to mourn the loss of the transgender people -- mostly transgender women of color -- murdered in an epidemic of violence we must end. More from HRC.