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The North Carolina General Assembly overrode Governor Josh Stein's veto of a bill critics said will harm transgender people and lead to censorship in schools.

House Bill 805 was originally filed to protect people from exploitation on pornographic websites. However, the bill was amended in the Senate to include strict definitions of sex and gender in state law and the ability for parents to prohibit their children from checking out certain books from the school library.

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Deanna Jones is a transgender woman and president of Harmony, the LGBTQ+ allied Chamber of Commerce in North Carolina.

"I don't ever think there is a time I can feel safe anymore, and I was very sad that North Carolina is moving in this direction," Jones explained. "They are feeling that they have the freedom to take this kind of latitude because of what's going on in the federal government."

Representative Nasif Majeed, D-Mecklenberg, defected to vote to override Stein's veto. Republican supporters of House Bill 805 said it supports and protects women.

Jones countered there are many flaws with the new law. For instance, it bans gender-affirming surgery for people in North Carolina's prisons. However, Jones noted no such surgery has ever taken place in the state's prison system. She pointed out many banned books in other states are about LGBTQ+ people.

A PEN America survey found more than half of banned books were about members of the LGBTQ+ community or people of color. The new law's assertion that biological sex falls into two categories is not backed by science and Jones stressed transgender and intersex people are erased under the law.

"None of this is based on science," Jones emphasized. "It's all based on dog whistles and ability to try and get votes from the conservative faction because right now we are in a battle for our very existence."

Jones added the law will have economic impacts, especially as the populations of Millennials and Gen Zers take over the workforce. Both generations have seen growing numbers of LGBTQ+ members, compared with previous generations.

"Companies that want to attract the future of our workforce are not going to want to come here and we will lose business," Jones underscored. "I think that is a given. That will definitely happen if we continue down this path."