NCAA pulls 7 championships out of North Carolina over anti-LGBT law
A few months after the NBA pulled its 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, North Carolina over the state's controversial anti-LGBT law known as House Bill 2, the NCAA has followed suit. The NCAA has pulled seven different championship events from the state.
The NCAA made the announcement on Monday evening. The highest profile event to be yanked is a set of first and second round games from next year's NCAA men's basketball tournament (the annual "March Madness") and the 2016 Division I Women's soccer championship, scheduled to be held in December.
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Here's a full list of the events.
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House Bill 2 excludes sexual orientation and gender identity from the statewide anti-discrimination policy and supersedes any local anti-discrimination policies. The law also requires transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex listed on their birth certificate.
In a statement posted online, NCAA president Mark Emmert said, "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 statement goes on to list four specific reasons for pulling the championships from North Carolina, three of which specifically cite the anti-LGBT law and the fourth listing the five states that have prohibited travel to North Carolina by "public employees and representatives of public institutions" due to the anti-LGBT bills (New York, Minnesota, Washington, Vermont and Connecticut).
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While the NBA has awarded the 2017 All-Star Game to New Orleans and said it will reconsider bringing the All-Star Game back to Charlotte in 2019, the NCAA doesn't mention where the affected championships will be relocated to.
But those sites will be chosen from a list of candidates who filled out questionnaires earlier this year.
Topics LGBTQ
Marcus Gilmer is Mashable's Assistant Real-Times News Editor on the West Coast, reporting on breaking news from his location in San Francisco. An Alabama native, Marcus earned his BA from Birmingham-Southern College and his MFA in Communications from the University of New Orleans. Marcus has previously worked for Chicagoist, The A.V. Club, the Chicago Sun-Times and the San Francisco Chronicle.
