Civil and Human Rights Coalition Applauds NBA Move of All Star Game in Wake of Anti-LGBT North Carolina Law

WASHINGTON – Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement after the NBA announced it would move the 2017 All Star Game out of North Carolina in protest of the anti-LGBT and anti-worker law HB2:

“We applaud the NBA for doing the right thing by its fans, its players and employees, and the people of North Carolina. When a powerful institution like the NBA takes a stand in support of civil and human rights, that action reverberates far beyond its immediate impact and helps to shape our nation’s values and culture of inclusion.

We also hope that it reverberates at the WNBA, which recently fined its players and teams for taking a stand for the Black Lives Matter movement. We applaud those players for following in the grand tradition of athletes who use their standing as a platform for change.

North Carolina’s governor has fallen on his sword in defense of HB2. The state has sacrificed jobs, its economic security, its standing in the nation, and now its credibility as a welcoming events venue. We urge Governor McCrory and the state legislature to repeal HB2 immediately to show the world that North Carolina won’t forever be stuck in the past.”

Wade Henderson is president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

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