McCrory opposes Charlotte bathroom law but doesn't want a special session

"My inclination is to support efforts to have a bill introduced as soon as we come into short session," McCrory said Monday afternoon.

"While special sessions are costly, we cannot put a price tag on the safety of women and children," Moore wrote to members on Wednesday.

Reaction to Moore's inquiry was mixed, with some lawmakers eager to return and other more circumspect about the need.

A spokeswoman for Moore said he was "still gauging interest" among Republican House members regarding a special session.

As governor, McCrory can call lawmakers back to work at any time. The legislature also has a mechanism by which House and Senate members can call themselves back to session, but the process is cumbersome.

It appears State Senate President Pro Temp Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, agrees with McCrory.

"Charlotte City Council’s decision to allow men to share public bathrooms with little girls and women has clearly raised a lot of concern across the state. As of today, the earliest the legislature could take any action would be April 25," a spokeswoman for Berger said Monday afternoon.

The Charlotte measure broadly defines how businesses must treat gay, lesbian and transgender customers, but as in other cities recently, the debate has focused on bathrooms. In particular, the ordinance would allow men and women who identify as something other than their birth gender to use the bathroom in which they are most comfortable.

This has provoked a backlash among social conservatives and others who make the case that it will open the way for sexual predators to harass women and girls. Activists for the rights of transgendered individuals say they there is little evidence that would-be molesters would take advantage of such a law. Rather, it would be cases in which, for example, a person presents as a woman but is forced to used the men's room that could be problematic.

McCrory clearly sides against the ordinance. He did not have a specific vision for what the law would look like, but he said he is working with legislative leaders so that there would be one set of rules for bathroom usage statewide.

"We need to respect the privacy of women and children and men in a very private place, and that's our restrooms and locker rooms," McCrory said. "To have many different cities and towns coming up with their own ordinance in how to deal with restrooms and locker rooms is, I don't think, good for our state."

The North Carolina Republican Party has been pressuring Cooper to take a stand on the Charlotte matter, and on Monday questioned whether donations to his campaign by advocates for the transgender rights ordinance were influencing his decision.

"The governor and legislature should stop playing politics and start focusing on creating good high paying jobs and making education a priority. State law can't be pre-empted by a local ordinance. Acts that were a crime before this ordinance are still a crime," said Jamal Little, a spokesman for Cooper's campaign.