Stevie Van Zandt on canceled Springsteen show: 'We better take a stand right now'
Stevie Van Zandt fully supports Bruce Springsteen's decision to cancel an upcoming show in North Carolina due to a recently passed law that is harmful to the LGBT community.
"We just felt the issue was just too important," he said backstage at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday. "This really vile and evil discrimination is starting to spread state to state and we thought ... we better take a stand right now and catch it early."
Springsteen announced the show cancellation via a lengthy Facebook post on Friday afternoon, responding to the state's decision to pass a bill that prevents local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances like one in Charlotte, North Carolina that would have allowed transgender people to use the public bathroom of their choice.
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"I feel that this is a time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters ... 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.
Van Zandt echoed those sentiments at the Hall of Fame ceremony, saying he hoped the band could "set some kind of example for others."
"It’s unfortunately the only way people understand," he added. "You have to hurt them economically in order to have them do the right thing morally, unfortunately."
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Topics Music
Yohana Desta was the senior film reporter for Mashable. She is a Northern Virginia native and an American University grad. She enjoys carefully curating her Instagram account and can often be found reading books, going to concerts, watching movies and learning way too much about pop culture.
