North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory (R) announced he would be suing the Obama administration for stopping his state s ability to discriminate against transgender people. Attorney General Loretta Lynch just hit him back. Hard.In a press conference scheduled just hours after McCrory decided he would order millions of dollars to be wasted fighting a hopeless battle to prevent trans people from using public bathrooms in North Carolina, Lynch spoke firmly about the rights of all people to be allowed to enjoy public spaces free of harassment or bans.Lynch carefully, and forcefully, demolished the  state-sponsored discrimination  inherent in the  bathroom bill  known as HB 2. The law, she said, is patently illegal and the Department of Justice would continue opposing it, despite the lawsuit.In a spine tingling moment, she spoke directly to the trans community in North Carolina and across the country who have watched in horror as Republican officials have legalized their persecution. She said that her colleagues at the Department of Justice and the Obama administration have their backs and would fight for them every step of the way. We see you. We stand with you, and we will do everything we can to protect you going forward. And please know that history is on your side. Lynch also has very powerful personal reasons to abhor what is happening in North Carolina   she was born there. She also grew up in a time when North Carolina was known for other forms of discrimination. She reminded America that not too long ago, people on the wrong side of history put signs over bathrooms saying African Americans could not enter. Even as things change, things stay the same.AG Lynch to transgender community.  We see you, we stand with you, and we will do everything we can to protect you.  https://t.co/fYLR8AlcNR  ABC News (@ABC) May 9, 2016In her statement, Lynch also reminded North Carolina that very soon they will have more than just millions of dollars in lost revenue from boycotts to worry about. Being found in violation of federal anti-discrimination laws would mean the state could lose federal funding for things like the Department of Public Safety and the state s public university system. In rushing to harass trans people, state Republicans have not only sliced off their nose to spite their face, they are cutting themselves to pieces limb by limb. It s not pretty.Lynch s powerful defense of the LGBT community serves as a stunningly clear example of how far apart the two major political parties has grown in the last decade. The Obama administration has made it clear that the LGBT community will not be victimized on his watch. On the other hand, many of the Republican candidates for president just weeks ago were running on the premise that transgender individuals were nothing more than sexual predators dressed up as women as a way to gain access to women s bathrooms. Indeed, that appears to be the entire premise of North Carolina s  bathroom bill.  No actual instances of sexual assaults on women or girls from trans women has ever been recorded. The problem simply does not exist.Watch Loretta Lynch lay down the law below:Featured image via CNN screengrab