North Carolina Speaker of the House Tim Moore claims that HB 2 was never about discrimination. Most people who are North Carolina Republicans are likely to call B.S. on that.
Just two days after the NCAA announced it is moving all its 2016-2017 championship events out of North Carolina, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) announced today, Wednesday, Sept. 14, that it is following suit.
The two college sports conferences made the move because of North Carolina’s state’s anti-LGBT House Bill 2 — legislation hastily approved by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Pat McCrory last spring which negates all local LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination laws in the states and forbids transgender people to use appropriate public restroom facilities.
“The A.C.C. Council of Presidents made it clear that the core values of this league are of the utmost importance, and the opposition to any form of discrimination is paramount,” Commissioner John Swofford said in a statement. “Today’s decision is one of principle,” according to The New York Times.
Four of the ACC’s 15 members are in North Carolina, and the conference has its headquarters in Greensboro.
Clemson President James P. Clements told the NY Times that the decision to move the ACC championship games was not easy, but it “is consistent with the shared values of inclusion and nondiscrimination at all of our institutions.”
McCrory, who has adamantly defended HB 2 since he signed it and is now struggling to stay alive in his race for re-election against Democrat Roy Cooper, has not yet commented on the decisions by either conference. But Tim Moore, the speaker of the North Carolina House of Representatives, said the decisions were “very unfortunate.”
Moore said, “No one ever wants to lose events under any circumstances, but these organizations are certainly entitled to host their events wherever they choose. The truth remains that this law was never about and does not promote discrimination.”
Most folks disagree with Mr. Moore, to say the least.