RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – A federal judge in North Carolina has decided not to rule immediately on whether to block a portion of a state law governing the use of public bathrooms by transgender people.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder heard evidence Monday, ahead of a November trial that will determine the law’s longer-term prospects. Schroeder will preside over that trial.

The U.S. Justice Department and the American Civil Liberties Union asked Schroeder to block a provision of the law requiring transgender people to use restrooms in many public buildings that match their birth certificates, rather than their gender identities. The law known as House Bill 2 also excludes gender identity and sexual orientation from statewide antidiscrimination protections.

Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, state legislative leaders and a citizens’ group are defending the law because they say it offers common-sense privacy protections.