NCAA Moves Championship Events from North Carolina Citing Anti-Trans Laws
The National Collegiate Athletic Association said on Monday that it would relocate all seven previously awarded championship events from North Carolina during the 2016-17 academic year because of concerns over laws passed by the state that it said violated the civil rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
The N.C.A.A. said the decision by its board of governors was based on “the cumulative actions taken by the state concerning civil rights protections” that conflicted with the organization’s commitment to “fairness and inclusion.”
“Fairness is about more than the opportunity to participate in college sports, or even compete for championships,” Mark Emmert, the N.C.A.A. president, said in a statement. “We believe in providing a safe and respectful environment at our events and are committed to providing the best experience possible for college athletes, fans and everyone taking part in our championships.”
The move by the N.C.A.A. comes less than two months after the National Basketball Association said it would move next February’s All-Star Game from Charlotte as a protest against a North Carolina law that canceled anti-discrimination protections for L.G.B.T. people. Earlier, a number of performers canceled concerts in the state, including Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and Itzhak Perlman.
The N.C.A.A. said on Monday that the legal situation facing L.G.B.T. people in North Carolina was unique because of what it called “four specific factors.”
Among them were laws that barred transgender people from using public restrooms that correspond to their gender identity and laws that allow government officials to refuse to provide services to L.G.B.T. people.
The N.C.A.A. also criticized a North Carolina law that forbids local municipalities from passing their own anti-discrimination laws that included sexual orientation or gender identity. Five states and a number of cities have also passed laws that bar public employees and representatives of public institutions from traveling to North Carolina, which the organization said could be interpreted to include student athletes and university athletics staff members.
The N.C.A.A. events being moved from North Carolina are:
2016 Division I women’s soccer championship, College Cup (Cary), Dec. 2 and 4.
2016 Division III men’s and women’s soccer championships (Greensboro), Dec. 2 and 3.
2017 Division I men’s basketball championship, first and second rounds (Greensboro), March 17 and 19.
2017 Division I women’s golf championships, regional (Greenville), May 8 to 10.
2017 Division III men’s and women’s tennis championships (Cary), May 22 to 27.
2017 Division I women’s lacrosse championship (Cary), May 26 and 28.
2017 Division II baseball championship (Cary), May 27 to June 3.
This is huge. I live in NC and college basketball is bigger than religion here. During March Madness, there isn't a single place you can go without hearing people talk about basketball. Also, the chance of Duke and/or UNC going all the way to the finals are pretty good. The championship game was here last year. People are gonna be piiiiiiiissed, and hopefully they'll take out that anger on Pat McCrony and the GOP state legislators up for reelection by voting them out. The NC Republicans also pushed back the trial date several months from November to May.
If you're in NC and interested in getting involved with fighting HB2, let me know. Equality NC/HRC are doing phone banks in certain parts of the state. Southerners on New Ground have materials for placing outside of businesses that offer safe spaces for trans people and also plan rallies and demonstration where you can take direct action if you wish to do so.
Source