The 2014 All-Star Game generated over $100 million in economic impact for New Orleans, money that would have gone to Charlotte had the state not passed the discrimination law that caused an uproar in the gay and transgender community.
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Amid the harsh political climate generated by the now infamous North Carolina House Bill 2, the NBA has followed through with a threat to relocate the 2017 NBA All-Star Game festivities, moving the game from Charlotte to New Orleans.
Adam Salandra is a writer, comedian, and TV host in Los Angeles.
The All-Star Game itself should be a big boost for the state’s economy. Now we know where they’re going.
“New Orleans is a world-class destination for sports and entertainment and we are very appreciative that the city is once again hosting our All-Star festivities”, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a release. Those disappointments provided even more motivation for state and city officials to act decisively to lure the NBA All-Star Game after the league’s decision to take it away from the initially designated host city.
The league announced on Friday that New Orleans would replace Charlotte as the host city, after lobbying from Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who has opposed North Carolina’s law.
North Carolina House Bill 2, or HB2 for short and nicknamed the “bathroom bill”, is a bill passed a year ago that restricts transgendered persons to using the bathroom of their birth rather than their gender identity.
The 2017 NBA All-Star game was originally scheduled to be in Charlotte but will instead be moved to New Orleans, the league announced on Friday. They last organized it in 2014, as reported by New Orleans Advocate. New Orleans is a noted tourist city, but accommodations might be hard to come by. “I want to congratulate Mayor Landrieu, the City of New Orleans, and the Pelicans for working in short order to make this all possible”.
In a statement released by the National Basketball Association back in July, the league announced the decision to remove the weekend from Charlotte.
Louisiana has not joined some of the other Southern US states including MS in passing laws similar to HB2.
The Human Rights campaign, the largest civil rights organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) citizens.
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The All-star Game is scheduled for February 19, which falls during the first weekend of Mardi Gras parades. That weekend presents some logistical challenges for New Orleans in terms of policing and traffic control, but considerably less so than the following weekend, when the largest parades roll in the days leading up to Fat Tuesday, which is February 28.
