NCAA Just Gave North Carolina A Very Loud Warning Over Bathroom Bill (WITH VIDEO)

Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, which could lose dearly due to NC's bathroom bill (image courtesy HangingCurve, available via a Creative Commons BY-SA license)
Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, which could lose dearly due to NC’s bathroom bill (image courtesy HangingCurve, available via a Creative Commons BY-SA license)

By now, you’ve heard that numerous entertainers and businesses have bailed on North Carolina after the state’s Republican-dominated legislature rammed through a law requiring transgender people to use the bathroom corresponding to the gender on their birth certificate. Well, word came late Wednesday that the state may be in danger of losing another moneymaker because of this monstrosity–the chance to host NCAA basketball tournament games.

The NCAA Board of Governors approved a rule that requires arenas and stadiums that want to host neutral-site NCAA tournament games in all sports to “demonstrate how they will provide an environment that is safe, healthy, and free of discrimination.” Watch board chairman Kirk Schultz discuss the new measure here.

Schultz, who is also the president of Kansas State University, said the NCAA felt compelled to act in the wake of several “Religious Freedom Restoration Acts” that have been enacted recently. He said that the NCAA has an obligation to ensure that student-athletes are competing in arenas, stadiums, and states that promote “an inclusive environment” for athletes, coaches, and fans. While the NCAA didn’t elaborate on which laws raised its eyebrow, the timing indicates that among them are North Carolina’s bathroom bill and a broader “religious freedom” bill that was recently enacted in Mississippi.

Further underlining this, NCAA officials told ESPN that they have already put Charlotte and Greensboro on notice that their slots in the NCAA basketball tournament rotation could be in jeopardy as long as North Carolina’s HB2 is still on the books. The Greensboro Coliseum and Charlotte’s Time Warner Cable Arena have been fixtures as NCAA tournament sites for years. Greensboro is due to host first and second round games in 2017, while Charlotte will host them in 2018. However, according to ESPN, NCAA officials are seriously considering moving those games elsewhere unless Charlotte and Greensboro can demonstrate how they will provide “a discrimination-free zone.”

It’s not the first time that the NCAA has taken a hard line on discrimination. It hasn’t allowed neutral-site games in states that fly the Confederate battle flag since 2001, and has barred schools from hosting games if their mascots feature “abusive or offensive” Native American imagery. Wednesday’s announcement comes a week after NBA commissioner Adam Silver let it be known that the league will move its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte if this bathroom bill is still on the books.

And yet, in the face of all of this, North Carolina’s Republican-dominated legislature appears to be saying, “La-la-la, can’t hear you!” When Democrats in the state senate introduced their plan to repeal the bathroom bill, the Republicans promptly sent it to the chamber’s Ways and Means Committee–a body that is well known as a dumping ground for bills that they don’t want to be debated. And some members of the Republican leadership are even making noises about putting this monstrosity up for a referendum.

I have to wonder if the Republicans have been paying attention to the news lately. After all, the federal appeals court for the circuit that covers North Carolina has already ruled that “bathroom bills” are discriminatory. The last attempt to write discrimination into the state constitution–an amendment to the state constitution that banned same-sex marriage–went down in flames just nine months before the Supreme Court definitively declared marriage equality the law of the land. Polling shows this bathroom bill is very unpopular among rank-and-file North Carolinians.

And now the NBA and NCAA have let it be known in the strongest possible terms that they are not willing to hold events in discriminatory environments. Someone needs to tell what passes for leadership in North Carolina that they’re getting boatraced on this issue–badly.

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.