The Justice Department is suing North Carolina over a law that, in the eyes of the federal government, violates the U.S. Civil Rights Act.

“The legislature and the governor placed North Carolina in direct opposition to federal laws” in passing the controversial HB2, said Attorney General Loretta Lynch at a press conference today. “They created state-sponsored discrimination against transgender individuals.”

This comes after North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory announced today his own lawsuit that asks a federal court to declare that the law, HB2, is not discriminatory.

The DOJ last week sent a letter to McCrory that said the law “engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against its employees and both you and the State are engaged in a pattern or practice of resistance to the full enjoyment of Title VII rights by employees of public agencies.” The letter gave a deadline of today for the state to “remedy these violations … by confirming that the State will not comply with or implement HB2.”

Lynch said that the state’s lawsuit prompted the DOJ’s law enforcement action. “As a result of their decisions, we are now moving forward,” she said. Lynch addressed the people of North Carolina, which she referred to as her “home state” and said, “This law provides no benefit to society and all it does is harm innocent Americans.”

While the suit allows the DOJ to curtail federal funding to North Carolina, Lynch said that they are not currently trying to do so.

Now at question in these competing lawsuits is whether sex discrimination as outlined in the U.S. Civil Rights Act includes gender identity. “There is nothing radical, or even unusual” about that legal interpretation, said Vanita Gupta, head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.

Lynch also addressed transgender Americans directly. “Please know that history is on your side,” she said.