Senators ask NBA to pull All-Star game from North Carolina
By KELLY COHEN
A bipartisan group of senators has asked NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to pull the league's 2017 All-Star game from North Carolina because of a law in that state that many say discriminates against gay and transgender people.
The letter asks Silver to "take a stand against this latest form discrimination and move the 2017 NBA All Star Game away from Charlotte, N.C.," following the passage of a new state law last month that prevents local governments from, for example, allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice.
Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Pat Leahy, D-Vt.; Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Patty Murray, D-Wash.; and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., signed the letter sent Tuesday. Kirk is the only Republican signed onto the letter and is running for re-election this year.
"We hold no ill-will towards the people of Charlotte, who passed an antidiscrimination measure that HB2 overturned, or towards the people of North Carolina," the senators wrote in the letter. "However, we cannot condone nor stand idly by as North Carolina moves to legalize and institutionalize discrimination against the LGBT community. Nor should the NBA allow its premier annual event to be hosted in such a state."
The law, known as HB2, "provides businesses, government contractors, hotels, and other institutions with a license to discriminate, and no city council or county government can do a thing about it," the senators wrote. "This is just wrong."
Since the state's Republican Gov. Pat McCrory signed the law, there has been widespread national backlash. PayPal and Deutsche Bankhave cancelled expansion plans in North Carolina.
McCrory said Tuesday that he wanted the law partially changed in response to the backlash, but that the bathroom provisions were to stay. But that change only reinstate the right of people to sue in the state for discrimination.
"After listening to people's feedback for the past several weeks on this issue, I have come to the conclusion that there is a great deal of misinformation, misinterpretation, confusion, a lot of passion and frankly, selective outrage and hypocrisy, especially against the great state of North Carolina," McCrory said. "But based upon this feedback, I am taking action to affirm and improve the state's commitment to privacy and equality."
In May 2013, former NBA player Jason Collins publicly came out as gay. When he signed with the Brooklyn Nets in February 2014 as a free agent, he became the first publicly gay athlete to play in any of the four major professional sports leagues in North America.
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By KELLY COHEN
A bipartisan group of senators has asked NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to pull the league's 2017 All-Star game from North Carolina because of a law in that state that many say discriminates against gay and transgender people.
The letter asks Silver to "take a stand against this latest form discrimination and move the 2017 NBA All Star Game away from Charlotte, N.C.," following the passage of a new state law last month that prevents local governments from, for example, allowing transgender people to use the bathroom of their choice.
Sens. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore.; Pat Leahy, D-Vt.; Cory Booker, D-N.J.; Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis.; Patty Murray, D-Wash.; and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., signed the letter sent Tuesday. Kirk is the only Republican signed onto the letter and is running for re-election this year.
"We hold no ill-will towards the people of Charlotte, who passed an antidiscrimination measure that HB2 overturned, or towards the people of North Carolina," the senators wrote in the letter. "However, we cannot condone nor stand idly by as North Carolina moves to legalize and institutionalize discrimination against the LGBT community. Nor should the NBA allow its premier annual event to be hosted in such a state."
The law, known as HB2, "provides businesses, government contractors, hotels, and other institutions with a license to discriminate, and no city council or county government can do a thing about it," the senators wrote. "This is just wrong."
Since the state's Republican Gov. Pat McCrory signed the law, there has been widespread national backlash. PayPal and Deutsche Bankhave cancelled expansion plans in North Carolina.
McCrory said Tuesday that he wanted the law partially changed in response to the backlash, but that the bathroom provisions were to stay. But that change only reinstate the right of people to sue in the state for discrimination.
"After listening to people's feedback for the past several weeks on this issue, I have come to the conclusion that there is a great deal of misinformation, misinterpretation, confusion, a lot of passion and frankly, selective outrage and hypocrisy, especially against the great state of North Carolina," McCrory said. "But based upon this feedback, I am taking action to affirm and improve the state's commitment to privacy and equality."
In May 2013, former NBA player Jason Collins publicly came out as gay. When he signed with the Brooklyn Nets in February 2014 as a free agent, he became the first publicly gay athlete to play in any of the four major professional sports leagues in North America.
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