The NBA has cancelled plans to hold its 2017 All-Star Game in Charlotte, North Carolina, over a state law decried as discriminatory against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, according to a report on Thursday.
The National Basketball Association is focused on moving the midseason showcase to New Orleans, which hosted the game in 2008 and 2014, but other cities are still vying for the extravaganza, according to a report on Yahoo.
The NBA confirmed that Charlotte was losing the event via a statement on it's website.
"The NBA has decided to relocate the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte with the hope of rescheduling for 2019," the statement read.
"Since March, when North Carolina enacted HB2 and the issue of legal protections for the LGBT community in Charlotte became prominent, the NBA and the Charlotte Hornets have been working diligently to foster constructive dialogue and try to effect positive change.
"We have been guided in these discussions by the long-standing core values of our league. These include not only diversity, inclusion, fairness and respect for others but also the willingness to listen and consider opposing points of view.
"Our week-long schedule of All-Star events and activities is intended to be a global celebration of basketball, our league, and the values for which we stand, and to bring together all members of the NBA community current and former players, league and team officials, business partners, and fans.
"While we recognise that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2."
A law passed in March made North Carolina the first U.S. state to require transgender people to use restrooms in public buildings and schools that match the sex on their birth certificate rather than their gender identity.
Chris Sgro, the executive director of Equality North Carolina and the state's only openly gay legislator, blamed the state's Republican governor, Pat McCrory, and lawmakers for backing a measure that appeared to have resulted in Charlotte losing "a marquee event."
"The warning signs were bright as they could be for the last 100 days while the NBA told state leaders that they would not be able to bring their fans to a place where all fans were not free from discrimination," Sgro told Reuters.
Tami Fitzgerald, executive director of NC Values Coalition, which supports the bathroom law, criticised the NBA's decision.
"The NBA should be ashamed of itself for using North Carolina-particularly its young girls-as a political pawn for an out-of-touch agenda that compromises both dignity interests and privacy rights," Fitzgerald said in a statement.
