The National Basketball Association and the Charlotte Hornets have given a big thumbs down to a watered-down version of the controversial law which forces transgender people to use public restrooms that match the gender they were born.
Their decision not to support the compromise recently drawn up by state lawmakers increases the possibility that the 2017 NBA All-Star Game, a huge revenue generator for the
Tar Heel State, will be yanked out of Charlotte.
The hoops organizations oppose the law as discriminatory towards transgender people, saying they are committed to the "guiding principles of inclusion, mutual respect and equal protections for all,"
The Charlotte Observer reports.
Meanwhile, the state legislature is setting aside a $500,000 war chest for the legal defense of its law, which also limits legal protections for the LGBT community, the newspaper said.
Among the revisions being floated are the restoration of protections for employment discrimination lawsuits and stronger penalties for crimes that occur in bathrooms.
Another revision would let people obtain proof they had undergone sex-reassignment surgery so they could amend their birth certificates.
For now, the 2017 NBA All-Star Game is still set for next February at the Time Warner Cable Arena with NBA officials saying they have made no definitive decision on whether the game will be moved to another state.
The state has already
lost countless dollars in revenue with rock stars like Bruce Springsteen cancelling their shows in protest of the law, which went into effect in March.
As well, executives from the Bank of America, American Airlines, Cisco, Miramax, Uber and Google Ventures, signed an open letter calling on Gov. Pat McCrory and the General Assembly to repeal the bill.
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