Maroon 5 cancels North Carolina shows over anti-LGBT bill

Maroon 5 joined the many musicians in protesting North Carolina's House Bill 2 by canceling two upcoming shows in the state, in Raleigh and Charlotte. 

"This was a difficult decision for us to make as a band," the band said in a statement on its website. "We don’t want to penalize our fans in North Carolina by not performing for them, but in the end it comes down to what we feel is morally right."

The shows were scheduled for Sept. 11 and Sept. 12. 

Bruce Springsteen was the first major artist to cancel a show in response to the bill, which requires that transgender people in the state use bathrooms and locker rooms that correspond to the sex that appears on their birth certificates. 

"Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them," Springsteen wrote in a statement at the time. Several other major acts -- including Pearl Jam, Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas -- followed his lead. 

But others are choosing to perform as a way to protest the bill instead.

Father John Misty decided to proceed with his show in the state -- "If I thought playing a show for my fans in North Carolina was in any way some tacit endorsement of this fearful, petty, ignorant nonsense, I wouldn't," he told Rolling Stone at the time -- and, like Cyndi Lauper, donated proceeds from the show to a local LGBT group. 

Against Me!'s transgender frontwoman Laura Jane Grace used her show in Durham to send a loud message to HB2 supporters by burning her birth certificate, yelling, "Goodbye, gender!"

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