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This story originally appeared in the Jackson Free Press. It was added to the Mississippi Free Press website in 2025.
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RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Dueling lawsuits over a North Carolina law limiting protections for LGBT people will likely go to trial just as voters are gearing up to cast ballots for governor.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder said in an order Thursday that the lawyers involved in the four cases told him they will be ready for trial by late October or early November.

Schroeder also set an Aug. 1 hearing on motions including an effort by the ACLU to block enforcement of a provision requiring transgender people to use restrooms consistent with the sex on their birth certificate.

Debate over the law could influence the state’s closely watched gubernatorial election. Republican Gov. Pat McCrory supports it; his challenger, Democratic state Attorney General Roy Cooper, opposes it.

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The Mississippi Free Press produced this story through the MFP Solutions Lab, supported by the Solutions Journalism Network. This series digs into Mississippi’s systemic issues and sheds light on responses to them in other communities. Beyond just reporting on problems, these stories interrogate their causes and inspect potential solutions.

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