Showdown in North Carolina: State Leaders Won't be Bullied by NBA Threats

Fr. Mark Hodges : Jul 25, 2016
LifeSiteNews.com

"What is happening in North Carolina is bigger than a basketball game. Lt. Governor Dan Forest was right when he said, 'A sovereign state is being blackmailed by a private business, the NBA, who is being threatened by a national LGBT lobbying effort, all to force North Carolina to open female restrooms, showers and locker rooms up to men. North Carolina will never value a dollar over a woman's or child's safety and security.'" -Jim Quick, North Carolina Value Coalition

(New York, NY)—[LifeSiteNews] The National Basketball Association (NBA) has officially reneged on its contract to play its 2017 All-Star Game at Time Warner Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina, because the state won't allow men in women's and girls' bathrooms. (Photo by Jason Pratt, Mayo Clinic/Flickr)

In March, the North Carolina legislature passed a gender-specific bathroom law, HB2, designed to ensure that young girls aren't forced to shower and change in the presence of men in public facilities.

Commissioner Adam Silver had threatened the state of North Carolina and the city of Charlotte with moving the lucrative All-Star Game, contracted for 2017 in Charlotte, if state legislators did not rescind the law.

The professional basketball league announced Thursday that it is canceling its 2017 "weeklong schedule of All-Star events and activities" in Charlotte because "we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2."

The move will cost North Carolinians an estimated $100 million. To the state's residents, however, the issue is not about money.

"What is happening in North Carolina is bigger than a basketball game," Jim Quick of the North Carolina Value Coalition warned in a statement to LifeSiteNews. "Lt. Governor Dan Forest was right when he said, 'A sovereign state is being blackmailed by a private business, the NBA, who is being threatened by a national LGBT lobbying effort, all to force North Carolina to open female restrooms, showers and locker rooms up to men. North Carolina will never value a dollar over a woman's or child's safety and security.'"

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory lashed out at "the sports and entertainment elite" and "the liberal media" for misrepresenting his state's bathroom privacy law and for "maligning" its citizens "simply because most people believe boys and girls should be able to use school bathrooms, locker rooms and showers without the opposite sex present."

After noting that 21 other states have joined his to legally oppose the Obama Administration's transgender bathroom mandate, McCrory said radical activists should not seek to bully citizens into an agenda against the best interests of their children.

"Left-wing special interest groups have no moral authority to try and intimidate the large majority of American parents who agree in common-sense bathroom and shower privacy for our children."

The governor warned citizens of other states that big business has become the enforcer of a gay agenda. "American families should be on notice that the selective corporate elite are imposing their political will on communities in which they do business, thus bypassing the democratic and legal process."

Other North Carolina politicians have gone on record criticizing the NBA's decision to pull the 2017 All-Star Game.

Republican Senator Phil Berger said, "The need for HB2 became crystal clear earlier this month, just steps away from the NBA arena in Charlotte, when a grown man engaged in sexual activity in a women's public bathroom."

In a potentially explosive revelation, Berger said it was the NBA, and not North Carolina legislators, who pulled out of negotiations—after Silver's summer-long public relations campaign characterizing the NBA as wanting nothing more than to work out a reasonable compromise.

"Lawmakers had several positive conversations with the NBA, attempting to find common ground while keeping grown men out of bathrooms and shower facilities with women and young girls," Berger said. "But, unfortunately, the NBA withdrew from those discussions."

Quick confirmed to LifeSiteNews that the NBA, after emphasizing it was open to negotiations, left the negotiating table, explaining "The NBA quickly withdrew from ... discussions after a leaked copy of their draft compromise drew harsh criticism by The Human Rights Campaign, Equality NC and corporate elites who, in turn, pressured the league to abandon compromise in support of a full repeal of HB2."

Quick noted that a political timetable was also in play. Silver had given North Carolina until the end of the summer to work out a solution, so why pull out halfway?  "In 10 days, a federal judge is set to rule on halting HB2," Quick explained, "so it appears the league's oddly timed announcement was simply politically motivated."

"Instead of waiting until the end of the summer, Silver released the announcement on the evening Donald Trump was set to accept the Republican Nomination, while also delivering an economic hit in a tight North Carolina gubernatorial election in the fall."

Quick added, "Both Clinton and Trump are scheduled for campaign stops in Charlotte next week."

Despite Silver's vow to the contrary, Berger said that in the end, the NBA issued an "all- or-nothing" ultimatum. That, he said, was unacceptable. "The suggestion that state leaders should abandon our moral obligation to protect our constituents in order to keep one exhibition basketball game is absurd, and shows a clear contrast in values."

North Carolina Rep. Robert Pittenger pointed to the NBA's willingness to do business with countries that oppress women, persecute religious minorities and violate human rights, and yet refuse to do business with American states that seek to protect women, religious minorities, and human rights. (Photo via Pixabay)

"Last week, I met with constituents from China who outlined the Chinese government practice of forcefully harvesting vital organs as part of their oppression of religious minorities. Meanwhile, the NBA will start selling tickets for preseason games in China next week," Pittenger said. "Is the NBA implying China's abhorrent violation of basic human rights is acceptable, but North Carolina saying men shouldn't use the girls' locker room is a bridge too far?"

"The unmistakable hypocrisy is clear to me," the congressman concluded.

"The NBA has abandoned common sense and put politics ahead of principle," Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Kellie Fiedorek stated in a press release. "The North Carolina privacy law, which protects girls and women from being forced to share locker rooms and showers with men, is completely reasonable. Pulling the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte is unreasonable, and..."

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