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Questions whether All Star game stays in Charlotte after HB 2 talks

By Jim Bradley and DaShawn Brown, wsoctv.com
By Jim Bradley and DaShawn Brown, wsoctv.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The changes to House Bill 2 discussed in Raleigh this week, which fail to alter restrictions on which bathrooms transgender persons can use, clearly frustrated the NBA and Charlotte Hornets, who made clear in a statement released Thursday evening that they “do not endorse” the legislature’s position.

That’s now raising new questions about whether the league will keep its 2017 All Star game in Charlotte.

“I think the NBA has made it very clear what their position is on this issue and how much LGBT people mean to them and to their bottom line as it relates to the All Star game,” said Matt Hirschy, with the LGBT advocacy group Equality NC.

Despite the NBA’s ongoing concern about HB 2 and its controversial bathroom policy, Republican leaders in Raleigh said repeal isn’t an option.

State House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, told Eyewitness News, “We are very clear and have made very firm all along that we are not backing off of the bathroom provision.”

That stalemate between HB 2 supporters, opponents and the NBA is raising the level of concern about whether the NBA will allow the 2017 All Star game to remain in Charlotte.

A source in the Charlotte business community, who didn’t want to be identified, told Eyewitness News there’s real concern that the game is in jeopardy.

Sources close to Charlotte City Council add they, too, wouldn’t be surprised if the NBA pulled the game.

Both the venue and hotel room block have already been secured by NBA officials, according the Charlotte Regional Visitor's Authority. “It's estimated the league booked tens of thousands of rooms.”

The tourism agency said it was closely monitoring legislative talks of revising HB 2, but continues to move forward in the planning for the weekend.

In uptown, management at Blue Restaurant and Bar fear the uncertainty could mean lost contracts with sponsors and corporations looking to host All-Star events.

"It hurts everybody's business downtown because downtown business is driven by things going on," executive chef Gene Briggs said.

In recent years, the restaurant has also hosted events for the CIAA tournament and the Democratic National Convention.

"People may be more hesitant to put down a deposit on a place like this, not knowing what's going to happen," he said.

The All Star game and its $100 million local impact are obviously important to Charlotte and the NBA, but political expert Michael Bitzer said getting legislators elsewhere in North Carolina to change their minds about HB 2 continues to be another story.

“This is such a big deal with the NBA All Star game, but you have to recognize that rural conservatives are probably not as concerned about that issue as they are about the bathroom issue,” Bitzer said.

The North Carolina General Assembly has largely left intact a law limiting protections for LGBT people.

The House and Senate approved a change late Friday night that restores workers' ability to use state law to sue over workplace discrimination. However, the change doesn't enhance workplace protections on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Legislative leaders have said that's the only change to the law planned this session.

There was no appetite among Republican lawmakers to undo a requirement that transgender people must use restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates in many public buildings.

Nor did they alter provisions that exclude gender identity and sexual orientation from statewide anti-discrimination protections.

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