Tom Scholz, lead guitarist and founding member of the classic rock band Boston, also released a statement canceling three shows the band had scheduled for early next month “in order to raise awareness, and protest in the strongest terms, the recent passage of HB2, the so-called ‘North Carolina bathroom law'”.
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A group of organizations supportive of North Carolina’s controversial House Bill 2 law requested – then retracted – that state legislators pledge not to repeal the law or enact any new provisions to protect the gay and transgender communities.
The band explained how the HB2 law had a negative impact on basic human rights and made America a non-free country, denying protection for the LGBT community and allowing them to be fired and mistreated for who they love and who they are.
According to Fox 8 News, since Eddie Vedder originally wanted to play the concert exclusively for citizens of North Carolina who were trying to get the HB2 law repealed, Pearl Jam has chose to provide those activists with some extra money to accomplish their goal. “This legislation is bad for business and bad for North Carolina”. Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr, and Cirque du Soleil all canceled performances in the last few weeks. Although she was offered a chance to see them in Columbia, South Carolina, she declined.
“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 in a video statement.
The band Boston, who hit the bigtime with song “More Than A Feeling”, has also announced it will not visit the state, on the same day as Mr Vedder announced his decision. Pearl Jam also said it would make a donation to the cause.
While saying they were not endorsing or opposing the measures, Heriot and Kirsanow said that “none of [these laws] deserves to be referred to in the derisive terms used by the commission majority”.
You can hear fans booing in the video.
“I want to make sure he understands the harm he is causing LGBT people”, said Gold.
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GlaxoSmithKline PLC spokeswoman Jenni Brewer Ligday said the drugmaker had reached out to McCrory “to express our concern that policies that impede inclusion and diversity harm North Carolina’s competitive business ecosystem and hinder our ability to recruit and retain key talent”.
