NC Bathroom Bill Leaves NBA All-Star Game in Charlotte in Doubt

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LAS VEGAS (ChurchMilitant.com) - The North Carolina Bathroom Bill, which allows men to use women's bathrooms, is causing uncertainty among National Basketball Association (NBA) officials in their decision whether or not to have the 2017 All-Star game in Charlotte.

NBA owners got together in Las Vegas Tuesday to debate if North Carolina House Bill 2 (HB2) — dubbed the "Bathroom Bill" — will be a deal-breaker, causing the loss of over $100 million to businesses in the state.

Basketball commissioner Adam Silver said at a press conference Tuesday, "I'd only say we're not prepared to make a decision today, but we recognize that the calendar is not our friend here."

February is coming fast for the NBA to decide if it's going to move the game to another state. Preparations take months and cost millions of dollars and can't be changed on short notice.

It was originally decided Charlotte would host the game, before HB2 exploded on the national headlines causing celebrities, businesses and lawmakers to boycott the state over the perceived "transphobia" of the nation's first bathroom law.

Silver said he and NBA owners were waiting for the North Carolina legislature to modify HB2 before they made a final decision, but it's getting late. "We were frankly hoping that they would make some steps toward modifying the legislation, and frankly, I was disappointed that they didn't."

In March Gov. Pat McCrory passed HB2 mandating that so-called transgender people must use the bathroom that coincides with the sex on their birth certificate. In April he signed an executive order enacting an equal employment "non-discrimination" policy for the hiring of state employees. Transgender activists hoped he would loosen HB2 to allow transgenders.

He is clarifying, however, that state agencies "may make reasonable accommodations upon a person's request due to special circumstances." He continues, "[W]hen readily available and when practicable in the best judgment of the agency, all cabinet agencies shall provide a reasonable accommodation of a single occupancy restroom, locker room or shower facility upon request due to special circumstances."

The management of the Charlotte Hornets and its owner, basketball champion Michael Jordan, do not support HB2. The NBA and its women's counterpart are the first sports league to march in the New York gay PRIDE parade.

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