Police: 2 assault transgender woman in N. Carolina bathroom

RALEIGH, N.C. – Police in North Carolina say two women sexually assaulted a transgender woman at a Raleigh bar.

News outlets report 38-year-old Amber Harrell and 31-year-old Jessica Fowler are charged with second-degree kidnapping and sexual battery.

The woman told Raleigh police she was inside the bar’s bathroom in December when Harrell and Fowler started verbally abusing her, exposed themselves and started touching her.

The woman says Harrell and Fowler continued to assault her outside the bathroom and ignored her and the bartender’s orders to stop.

The two women were released on bond; it’s unclear if they have lawyers.

Public bathrooms have been a flashpoint in North Carolina since Republican lawmakers in 2016 required transgender people to use rooms matching their birth certificates. The requirement was rescinded last year.