NCAA pulls 7 postseason events out of N.C. due to LGBT law
Basketball-crazed North Carolina has lost its next chance to host NCAA men’s basketball tournament games along with several other championship events due to a state law that some say can lead to discrimination against LGBT people.
And the fallout may not be over.
After the NCAA announced it is pulling seven championship events from North Carolina for this year, Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner John Swofford — whose league hosts many sporting events in the state, including its football championship game — said the ACC’s council of presidents were set to discuss the law at a previously scheduled meeting later this week.
The ACC football championship game, held in Charlotte since 2010, is the last marquee college sporting event left in the state during the 2016-17 season. While Swofford it would be “premature” to make any decisions about holding events in North Carolina for now, he also issued a clear statement against the law.
“On a personal note,” Swofford said, “it’s time for this bill to be repealed as its counter to basic human rights.”
In a news release today, the NCAA says the decision by its board of governors came “because of the cumulative actions taken by the state concerning civil rights protections.”
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The law — known as HB2 — requires transgender people to use restrooms at schools and government buildings corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates. It also excludes gender identity and sexual orientation from local and statewide antidiscrimination protections.
HB2 was signed into law by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory earlier this year. A spokesman with McCrory’s office couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Monday evening, but a spokeswoman with the state Republican party blasted the NCAA’s decision in a statement, saying it is “so absurd it’s almost comical.”
“I wish the NCAA was this concerned about the women who were raped at Baylor,” spokeswoman Kami Mueller said tonight.
The only championship events that can be hosted in North Carolina this academic year are ones determined when a team earns the right to play on its own campus.
The NCAA said it will relocate the men’s basketball first- and second-round games that were scheduled for March 17 and 19 in Greensboro. The NCAA will also relocate:
— the Division I women’s soccer championship scheduled for Dec. 2 and 4 in Cary, just outside the capital city of Raleigh;
— the Division III men’s and women’s soccer championships set for Dec. 2 and 3 in Greensboro;
— the Division I women’s golf regional championships set for May 8-10 in Greenville;
— the Division III men’s and women’s tennis championships set for May 22-27 in Cary;
— the Division I women’s lacrosse championship set for May 26 and 28 in Cary;
— and the Division II baseball championship from May 27 to June 3 in Cary.
The state has been a frequent host for NCAA men’s basketball tournament games. In all, the NCAA said North Carolina has hosted 251 men’s tournament games since 1951, the most of any state.
Athletic directors at three of the state’s ACC schools — North Carolina’s Bubba Cunningham, North Carolina State’s Debbie Yow and Wake Forest’s Ron Wellman — issued statements saying they were disappointed at the loss of events. Duke AD Kevin White went further, saying the school agreed with the NCAA’s decision.
“Our position has been clear on this matter, which is that this legislation is discriminatory, troubling and embarrassing,” White said.
The campaign spokesman for Democrat Roy Cooper, the state’s attorney general and McCrory’s re-election opponent in November, also said the law needs to be repealed.
“It seems that almost every day, we learn of a new consequence of HB2,” spokesman Ford Porter said. “… We need to repeal this law and get our state back on track.”
NCAA President Mark Emmert said in statement tonight that the governing body will delay announcements on future championship sites until early next year. That comes as it reviews responses to questionnaires required of prospective site hosts on how they would comply with the NCAA’s anti-discrimination measure.
In its announcement Monday, the NCAA took special note of ways North Carolina’s law differs from other states. The NCAA pointed out that five states — Connecticut, Minnesota, New York, Vermont and Washington — and several cities prohibit travel by public employees and representatives of public institutions to the state of North Carolina. The representatives prohibited to travel could include athletes, coaches and athletic administrators.
Today’s action by the NCAA is the latest public and business backlash that has arisen since the law was enacted. The NBA moved its 2017 All-Star Game to New Orleans instead of hosting it in Charlotte as originally scheduled because of the law. Duke lost a men’s basketball game from its schedule when Albany backed out due to that state’s travel ban, while the Vermont women’s basketball team has canceled a December trip to play North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Entertainers like Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and Ringo Starr have canceled plans to play in North Carolina. And PayPal reversed plans to open a 400-employee operation center in Charlotte.
14 responses to “NCAA pulls 7 postseason events out of N.C. due to LGBT law”
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This was inevitable. The Governor of North Carolina – a small minded, bigoted failure – assured the voters that this type of thing would not happen.
So now it’s happening. As businesses predicted it would.
Welcome to North Carolina – Remember to set your watch back 50 years.
Discrimination is wrong and North Carolina is learning it the hard way. Why hasn’t our state joined the others in prohibiting travel, etc. They remind me of news clips we have all seen of the lunch counter protests from years ago and Mrs. Parks refusing to sit behind the white line in the back of the bus. Sooner or later, they’ll get the message. For their sake, I hope it’s sooner. Have to pity the poor bigots.
How is it discrimination to require someone with a penis to use a male rest room and someone with a vagina to use a female rest room?
You’re all mixed up – like usual.
The state requires people to identify only with what’s on their birth certificate. Can’t you do 30 seconds of research before commenting?
Stand your ground, North Carolina. Don’t let political correctness ruin your state.
Totally agree. States have rights. Guess I won’t be watching any NCAA events.
Yes, and I’m sure that will hurt them terribly. What will they do without you?
Leave it to you to conflate outright bigotry with “political correctness”, whatever that means in your mind.
The people of North Carolina have turned against their governor, and he’ll probably be voted out of office in November.
The solution would be to install gender confused bathrooms, then there shouldn’t be a problem. Men who identify as male can use the Men’s restroom, women who identify as female can use the Women’s restroom and All others can use the “whatever gender” they “identify” as restroom. Problem solved. But don’t force those who have no question about their gender to accept this. This country is going down the toilet as we speak., no pun intended. NC I’m behind you 100%.
If you’re behind NC 100% (the people … not the government) then you want that law repealed. The governor is going to lose in a landslide.
So your thinking is the the majority should be able to force their bigotry on the minority? Just a hint here … it’s call the Constitution.
i have no problem with the gay community, I have quite a few friends who are gay and they are truly great friends, even they think it’s stupid to Pass a law like that. I don’t think the governor will loose in a landslide but who knows. I’m entitled to MY opinion as you are to yours. But I read a lot of the comments on SA website and I alway see your snide comments disagreeing with people who post here who don’t see things how you do. We’re all individuals expressing our Own opinions. It always seems like you egg people on to get a response, you must be really bored. I’m going to take my que from other posters on this site and just ignore you. Aloha.
You must not be following the NC governor’s race or the polls. He’s losing by double digits.
You are a sick sick person.
The governor signed that law against the wishes of the people. They turned against him as a result, and he’s going to lose in a landslide.
Facts are stubborn.
I couldn’t care less what your opinion of me is.