Obama answers question about HB2 at UK town hall
LONDON (WTVD) -- President Barack Obama faced questions about North Carolina's Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, also known as House Bill 2, while in the United Kingdom on Saturday.
During a town hall discussion in London, one questioner came out publicly to the United States President as "non-binary" - identifying neither as male nor female - and asked Obama to take a firmer stance on gender identity issues.
"I really, really wished that yourself and David Cameron, would take us seriously as transgendered people, and perhaps you could elucidate as to what you could do to go beyond what has been accepted as the LGBTQ movement ..."
North Carolina's House Bill 2 was also bought up.
Obama defended his record, but said he could do little to alter recently passed laws in states like North Carolina and Mississippi that restrict the use of public bathrooms.
He said they are doing administrative work and that things are headed "in the right direction."
"You should feel encouraged just by virtue of the fact that social attitudes have changed faster than I've seen on any other issue," said Obama to the questioner.
On Monday, Democratic lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly filed a bill to repeal the controversial law.
Activists and protesters from both sides gathered in Raleigh to voice their opinions.
