The NBA announced it will move the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, N.C., citing objections to House Bill 2 (HB2), the widely-debated state law that limits non-discrimination protections for LGBT people and bans transgender residents from using bathrooms consistent with their gender identity.
The National Basketball Association consistently aired concerns over the damaging, discriminatory implications of HB2 since the legislation was enacted in March. The decision to move the game was made less than a month after North Carolina lawmakers revisited HB2 and voted to proceed with its enforcement.
“While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2,” the league said in a statement.
The NBA plans to announce a new location for the February game in the near future, and said it would reschedule its 2019 game for Charlotte if HB2 is dismantled.
North Carolina Go. Pat McCrory decried the league’s decision, spewing vitriol and unapologetically standing behind the anti-LGBT law.
“Left-wing special interest groups have no moral authority to try and intimidate the large majority of American parents who agree in common-sense bathroom and shower privacy for our children,” McCrory claimed in a statement. “American families should be on notice that the selective corporate elite are imposing their political will on communities in which they do business, thus bypassing the democratic and legal process.”
Data from recent NBA All-Star games in similar markets shows that North Carolina stands to lose about $100 million in revenue from missing out on hosting the popular event. Apparently, the upholding of draconian anti-LGBT policies mean more to the governor and state legislators than the healthy ecocomic boon the All-Star game would have all but guaranteed for North Carolina and its residents.
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