The NBA Is Threatening NC Over The ‘Bathroom Bill,’ But Here’s What They Don’t Want Us Talking About
If you were thinking North Carolina’s overturning of that dangerous Charlotte “transgender bathroom” law last week was the end of the debate, you were mistaken.
But the NBA’s threatening response to the bill’s passage deserves closer scrutiny.
Unsurprisingly, opponents of the legislation commonly known as the “HB2 bill” were quick to seize on the statement as evidence that the bill has the potential to harm North Carolina economically.
But what they won’t tell you is the backstory behind the NBA awarding the 2017 All-Star Game to the city of Charlotte, and how the NBA is glaringly hypocritical on the issue of “equality and fairness.” Some key points to remember, in chronological order:
June 23, 2015: Despite there being no LGBT rights bills in place, the NBA announces it has awarded Charlotte with the 2017 All-Star game. The NBA was apparently fine with Charlotte’s conditions as they stood at the time of the announcement.
February 22, 2016: The “transgender bathroom bill” is brought up to the Democrat party-controlled Charlotte City Council. It passes 7-4.
March 23, 2016: The Republican-controlled North Carolina General Assembly passed HB2, which overturned Charlotte’s radical transgender bathroom ordinance. The NBA releases its statement the next day.
In short: nothing has changed in Charlotte from when the NBA partnered with the city for the All-Star game to today. The bathroom bill didn’t exist on June 23, 2015, and it doesn’t exist now. Yet suddenly the NBA is threatening to pull out of the deal because they now aren’t sure what “impact” the non-change will have on their ability to host.
This is not a result of genuine concern; it’s a result of the manufactured outrage machines that have worked together in the past to pressure sports leagues and corporations to get out “in front” of an issue that they, in reality, really don’t care much about (until they face the prospect of negative PR from the left and the media.)
For example, it’s particularly confusing to be lectured on “equality” by an organization that is expanding its reach into communist China since 2004, the same China that jails and murders political dissidents and which, for decades, forced women with more than one child to abort any pregnancy after the first one.
Same for the NBA’s emerging efforts in India, where adolescent girls face a high probability of sexual assault and rape and where religious freedom doesn’t exist.
And let’s not get started on the NBA’s partnership with Nike, whose abuse of cheap labor markets in Asian countries has been well-documented by human rights groups going back decades.
The NBA is content with punishing North Carolina for a bill protecting women and children while it rakes in billions from expanding operations in countries with brutal human rights records against men, women, andchildren. The NBA’s sudden concern is not genuine; it’s a product of pressure by the left-wing outrage machine.
Then, the radical activist left in North Carolina, who normally are absolute purists on issues related to “fair and living wages” and “safe spaces for women,” applaud the NBA for threatening the economic livelihoods of their fellow residents.
Go figure.
(This article was written by me and originally published at IJR. May contain broken links.)