Due to North Carolina’s inability to create new legislation to resist the House Bill 2 or transgender bathroom law, the NBA is moving it’s 2017 All Star Game away from Charlotte, NC until the matter is resolved. The league will release the new location for the upcoming 2017 game, which is scheduled to play is coming February. The league also commented that they would like to host the 2019 All Star game in Charlotte if the HB2 matter is null and void. The North Carolina law states that if transgender individuals who haven’t gone through medical procedures to change their birth gender will not be able to use any public bathrooms for the gender they identify with in North Carolina.
The HB2 law is deemed controversial in North Carolina, with many conservative politicians reluctant to let the opposite sex enter a boy or girl’s bathroom, shower, and or locker room. North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper and Governor Pat McCrory both are against the abolishment of the HB2 law. They both feel that the majority of North Carolinians don’t agree with liberal politician views who want to allow transgender individuals who were born male to be allowed into a woman’s bathroom or vise versa. They call it common sense. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NBA Officials disagree with the Attorney General and Governor’s opinion about what is “common sense”. Silver has actively tried to work alongside with North Carolina politicians to get the HB2 law retracted since the law was passed through legislation last March.
North Carolina recently allowed for same sex marriage, yet with the transgender bathroom issue, Carolina legislation has remained firm to keep the law unchanged. The HB2 also limits how all North Carolinians file claims for discrimination against their affiliated religion, race, national origin, biological sex, and disability/handicap. The law also doesn’t provide protection against individuals who identify as LGBTQ from being fired by their employer due to discrimination. Although states like Georgia, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Indiana agree with the HB2 legislation and proposed to induce the same regulation for their state legislature.
