What’s arguably the state’s most popular spectator sport became engrossed in the HB2 debate this week as the NCAA announced no championship round games would be held in North Carolina.
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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. The most contentious part of the law requires people in publicly owned buildings to use restrooms that correspond with the gender listed on their birth certificate.
State Republicans, however, dismissed the NCAA’s actions as missing the point.
Specifically, the NCAA – and before it, the National Basketball Association – is irked that House Bill 2 remains intact, allowing for the open and lawful discrimination against the LGBT community.
The most high-profile events affected by the NCAA’s September 12 announcement are first- and second-round Division I Men’s Basketball Championship games slated for March 17 and 19 in Greensboro. In addition, it effectively rolls back LGBT laws passed by some of the state’s cities and towns by declaring that state law – which does not include any special protections for gay, lesbian and transgender people – supercedes municipal law. For decades, games at North Carolina arenas during what’s commonly called March Madness have served as a springboard for powerhouse programs such as the University of North Carolina or Duke University to advance to the Final Four or a men’s basketball championship.
North Carolina is home to Duke University, making it the de facto home to the Duke Blue Devils.
North Carolina GOP spokeswoman Kami Mueller responded on Monday evening, calling the decision “so absurd it’s nearly comical”, before going on a rambling tirade about the supposed unravelling of gendered sports.
Seven 2016-17 NCAA championship events previously slated to hit North Carolina will have to find new host sites.
“This is so absurd it’s nearly comical”, said GOP spokeswoman Kami Mueller in a press release. “I wish it would be repealed, and I think that the NCAA looking at this, decided that this was just something they couldn’t swallow”.
“This decision is an assault to female athletes across the nation”, Mueller said.
The ACC is also on the clock to make its decision about its football championship game, set to be played in Charlotte on December 3.
“What does frustrate me is where I see coaches getting paid millions of dollars, athletic directors getting paid millions of dollars, the NCAA making huge amounts of money, and then some kid gets a tattoo or gets a free use of a vehicle and suddenly they’re banished”, Obama told the Huffington Post past year.
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In April, the NCAA Board of Governors, which consists mostly of college presidents and chancellors, issued a directive that required cities interested in hosting an NCAA championship to answer specific questions on how it would protect athletes and spectators from discrimination. “While it bullies the people of North Carolina to allow boys in the girls’ locker rooms, showers and bathrooms, it prohibits boys from playing on the girls’ sports teams”.
