RALEIGH, N.C. — Gay rights groups that supported Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s winning campaign last fall because of his pledge to repeal North Carolina’s ‘‘bathroom bill’’ now say he betrayed them by accepting a compromise, calling it a ‘‘dirty deal’’ with Republicans.

Many fellow Democrats also were upset with the compromise, which got rid of the provision requiring transgender people to use public restrooms corresponding to their birth certificate but kept state lawmakers in charge of future bathroom policies.

That provision in particular angered businesses, the NCAA, the NBA and others who withdrew events and expansions from North Carolina at a steep cost.

‘‘I am torn apart because I want to support my governor, and I want to support the efforts that we are trying to make, to make things at least a little bit better,’’ Democratic Representative Yvonne Holley of Raleigh said during debate on the legislation.

Although she voted for the compromise, she said: ‘‘there is more to this than about using the bathroom.’’

The law known as House Bill 2 also had prevented local and state governments from passing nondiscrimination ordinances protecting on the basis of categories such as sexual orientation and gender identity. It was replaced by a moratorium on local governments passing them in most cases for nearly another four years.

‘‘It kicks HB2 down the road until 2020, keeping most of the awful law on the books for someone else to deal with,’’ said Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality North Carolina. ‘‘That’s not leadership.’’

Cooper said the compromise was the best he could get with Republican leaders holding veto-proof majorities in the House and Senate.

ASSOCIATED PRESS