Ellington

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.