Thank you @NBA…. A great example for all the sports leagues around the world. https://t.co/rSKLJzFEIv
— Robbie Rogers (@robbierogers) July 21, 2016
I recognize this was a tough decision for the NBA but I respect the choice. Discrimination of any kind cannot be allowed
— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) July 22, 2016
The sports and entertainment elite, Attorney General Roy Cooper and the liberal media have for months misrepresented our laws and maligned the people of North Carolina simply because most people believe boys and girls should be able to use school bathrooms, locker rooms and showers without the opposite sex present. Twenty-one other states have joined North Carolina to challenge the federal overreach by the Obama administration mandating their bathroom policies in all businesses and schools instead of allowing accommodations for unique circumstances. 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. 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.
The sheer arrogance, willful ignorance, and astonishing cognitive dissonance inherent in Gov. McCrory’s response to what he and everyone else could see coming a mile away is indicative of why most Republicans are unfit to govern. It’s not about effective public policy, about doing what’s right and best for North Carolina. It’s about their narrow, hateful, moralistic agenda, and their belief that they have been divinely ordained by God and ordered by Him to force that agenda on all.
The NBA, after months of making its displeasure with the Tar Heel State’s HB2 known, and working behind the scenes to find a solution, has finally thrown in the towel. Gov. McCrory and Republicans in the North Carolina legislature are so committed to their hateful, bigoted agenda that they can’t (more likely refuse to) see their responsibility in this mess. No, the NBA doesn’t (and shouldn’t) get to dictate laws…but neither is it under any obligation to do business where discrimination is de riguer. The league decided to move their 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte because they can…and because the league offices feels it’s important to take what stand they can in support of equality.
McCrory can piss and moan about the “Liberal media” or “left-wing special interest groups” not respecting the wishes of the people of North Carolina, but no reasonable person is buying what he’s selling. Truth is, North Carolina Republicans don’t give a damn about the wishes of the people of North Carolina. They’re all and only about providing their narrow moral/theological/ideological framework the force of law.
Regardless of how you feel about transgenders, a person’s private life deserves to remain just that- private. No one should have the right to dictate to another how or whom one may love…or which bathrooms a certain class of people are allowed to use.
It’s not about protecting innocent children or defenseless woman from transgenders. A far greater threat is posed by heterosexual White males…but never discount the Republican facility for never letting the truth stand in the way of perfectly good propaganda, fear mongering, and righteous Christian outrage.
The NBA issued the following statement today regarding the 2017 NBA All-Star Game pic.twitter.com/2yo1YDA2Un
— NBA (@NBA) July 21, 2016
No reasonable person will likely have a problem with the NBA’s action. How could the league not take action? To refuse to move the All-Star Game would be seen as implicitly endorsing North Carolina’s commitment to hatred, bigotry, and homophobia.
Not every sports league is taking such a commendable approach to doing business in a state in which discrimination is official policy. The PGA, for example, has said it won’t move the 2017 PGA Championship from Quail Hollow Country Club in Charlotte. Golf is a far more Conservative sport, generally speaking, and has been rather slow to develop anything resembling a social conscience.
Perhaps the NBA’s action will force North Carolina to reexamine, perhaps even repeal, HB2. Despite the lame argument for discrimination put forth by Gov. McCrory, discrimination cannot be tolerated. Or they could dig in their heels and gradually see North Carolina cut off from business opportunities because businesses don’t want to be seen as condoning hatred and bigotry.
Sports have historically led the parade when it comes to social change, and the NBA is certainly holding up its end of the bargain. If it takes pulling as much of their business out of North Carolina as they can…well, money talks, amiright?? Despite Gov. McCrory’s impotent whining, the NBA is doing exactly the right thing by making moving their All-Star Game out of Charlotte.
Hatred and bigotry have no place in America…and they certainly have no place in sports. It’s just too bad that North Carolina’s Republicans are too arrogant and self-righteous to see that.
