Both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Football League (NFL) are making North Carolina feel the heat for passing House Bill 2, which is also known as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act.
The NBA has given state leaders until the end of summer to change their bathroom privacy protection policies and make them more inclusive of the LGBT community. Otherwise, they just might lose the opportunity to host the 2017 All-Star Game, according to Life Site News.
During Game 1 of the NBA finals on Thursday night last week, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said legislators need to make some changes concerning the law first before Charlotte gets to host the All-Star Game. "I don't see how we would get past this summer without knowing definitively where we stand," he said.
Silver is optimistic that the state would reach a satisfactory resolution so that the NBA, together with other businesses, would no longer feel the need to move out of North Carolina. "However heartfelt their views are, the current state of being is causing enormous economic damage to the state," he said.
The same tactic is being employed by the NFL, which vowed to "continue to fight" North Carolina's bathroom privacy law. Commissioner Roger Goodell issued a statement, saying that the NFL will oppose any move that seeks to discriminate people.
"We're going to work with the community to make the effective changes necessary long term," Goodell said.
Meanwhile, Media Research Center Vice President Dan Gainor is upset that these athletic associations are bullying the state in trying to change its policy.
"Liberals have decided they want to bully Americans in every aspect of our lives: music, TV, movies, and now sports," said Gainor. "The major sports leagues, heavily influenced by left-wing, social justice journalists, are intent on turning the NBA, NFL, NCAA and more into weapons to blackmail states into accepting the unacceptable."
"It's time for states and fans to tell the leagues and the journalists who play puppet master that our families are more important," he added.
