I've been harping on this enough that it's probably getting tedious, but it's better/worse than that. Charlotte decided to let people use the bathroom they wanted, without too much controversy. The state government intervened. That's how federalism works, they can do that, but there's a reason "states' rights" rhetoric still works in the south. We were never sold on the whole federalism thing, the distant overriding the local smells undemocratic to us. Religious enthusiasm comes and goes, but southern politics have been pretty much the same since Jefferson. I think this is how Republicans loose the south.
Today's Fresh Air spoke to your point a few times. Worth a listen: http://www.npr.org/2016/04/06/473244707/from-fracking-bans-to-paid-sick-leave-how-states-are-overruling-local-laws More I hear about this, the more furious it makes me. I mean, I'm a big government kind of guy, but there's big government and there's bad governance.