Miami (AFP) – Proposed changes to a controversial North Carolina law requiring residents to use public restrooms corresponding to their gender at birth don’t go far enough, the National Basketball Association said.
The US professional basketball league has threatened to relocate the NBA All-Star weekend, which is scheduled to take place next year in Charlotte, North Carolina, unless the bill that has been slammed by rights groups as discriminatory is revoked.
North Carolina legislators circulated a draft bill this week showing some minor changes in the law, but keeping the controversial bathroom provisions intact.
The NBA and the Charlotte Hornets — North Carolina’s resident team which is owned by retired basketball legend Michael Jordan — rejected the proposed revisions, saying the revamped bill still discriminates against transgender people.
“We have been engaged in dialogue with numerous groups at the city and state levels, but we do not endorse the version of the bill that we understand is currently before the legislature,” a joint statement released by the NBA said about the measure known as House Bill 2, or HB2.
“We remain committed to our guiding principles of inclusion, mutual respect and equal protections for all,” the statement added.
“We continue to believe that constructive engagement with all sides is the right path forward.”
Enacted in March by Republican Governor Pat McCrory, the law requires people to use bathrooms that correspond to their genders at birth, not their gender identities, and prevents local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances.
Yielding to pressure from numerous celebrities, sports organizations and companies that urged a boycott of North Carolina, a group of state legislators amended some of the law’s text.
Leaked to local media on Tuesday, the proposed bill must still be approved by the state legislature.
But critics joined the NBA in calling for a complete repeal of the bill.
“Now I have to show my birth certificate to go to a restroom? It’s just ridiculous,” Mavis, 45, a nurse in Raleigh, North Carolina told AFP recently, declining to give her last name.
– ‘Totally unacceptable’ –
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said two weeks ago that the law was “problematic,” but did not say in Thursday’s statement whether another venue for the All-Star Game was being considered.
“There has been no new decision made regarding the 2017 NBA All-Star Game,” it said.
The draft of the revisions, obtained by the local television station WBTV, recognizes changed genders via documents that serve as the equivalent of birth certificates.
However, the text does not mention the use of public toilets.
Chad Griffin, president of Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for the rights of LGBT people, tweeted: “Encouraged by the @NBA’s statement & hope lawmakers will finally come to the table and do what’s right: #RepealHB2.”
“This proposal is totally unacceptable,” Mike Meno, spokesman for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, told AFP.
“It does nothing to protect LGBT people in North Carolina.”
“Instead, it doubles down on discrimination,” he added. “The only way to stop the damage caused by HB2 is to fully repeal it once and for all.”
Another group, the North Carolina Justice Center, echoed that sentiment.
Nothing short of full repeal of the bill’s anti-LGBT provisions accomplishes the goal of creating a kinder, wiser, better state,” it said in a statement.
“Sadly, this new legislation fixes none of these things.”
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.