“Pulling the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte is unreasonable and hypocritical”.
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The NBA announced July 21 that the 2017 All-Star Weekend was being removed from Charlotte, in reaction to concerns with the North Carolina law known as House Bill 2, which mandates that people use public bathrooms or changing facilities based on the “biological sex” stated on their birth certificates. “I always thought this was country that ALL peoples not just a few can determine our future”.
The game will be played in a yet-to-be-determined alternate city.
Other North Carolina politicians have gone on record criticizing the NBA’s decision to pull the 2017 All-Star Game.
Cancellations of special events booked at the group’s Slate Billiards and Oak Room for the week of the All-Star Game are expected to deprive the company of an estimated $300,000 in sales, Conroy said.
Thankfully, the official statement from the Hornets and chairman Michael Jordan in response to the announcement exercised much more restraint and understanding than Sabates’ email. Conroy compared that amount to the $20,000 to $100,000 in sales at the company’s venues on the day of a home National Football League game. He has previously blamed President Barack Obama for the ill effects of this state law. A federal judge set a hearing for Monday on a motion to block enforcement of the law’s bathroom access provision ahead of a November trial in four of the five pending lawsuits.
Vice Mayor Ian Hugh, who has been vocal in stating that Glendale has hosted numerous large events without any complaints, didn’t feel the same thing will happen to Glendale and the Final Four.
The NBA had previously hinted that it might move the February 2017 game out of Charlotte, but later said it would prefer to keep a “presence” in the state.
American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of North Carolina, and Lambda Legal – who are challenging HB2 in federal court on behalf of six LGBT North Carolinians, said in a statement last month about the legislation, ‘We are fighting in court for the entire LGBT community in North Carolina because sanctioned discrimination is unacceptable.
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“With so many issues on voters’ minds today like national security, our economic recovery and the need to take care of our vets …”
