The ACC will once again host championships in North Carolina again after the repeal of the controversial House Bill 2, and some lawmakers want to ensure that the conference won’t boycott the state again.
Lawmakers have introduced House Bill 728, which would potentially lead to UNC and NC State leaving the conference in the event that the ACC pulled big events from North Carolina again.
North Carolina lawmakers file bill that would pull #UNC + #NCState from @theACC if #ACC boycotts the state again after #HB2 fallout. @myfox8 pic.twitter.com/6xDhUZGFvz
— Alex Rose (@AlexRoseNews) April 12, 2017
HB2, colloquially known as the ‘Bathroom Bill’ that stripped protections from LGBTQ citizens and legislated which bathrooms they had to use, was repealed last month, but critics say that the replacement—HB142—does little, if anything, to address the discriminatory issues of the original bill. From The Charlotte Observer editorial board:
Legislators and Gov. Roy Cooper hailed Thursday’s HB2 repeal bill as a compromise. In fact, it is nothing of the kind. It is a betrayal of the promises the governor made to the LGBT community and an entrenchment on discrimination by Republican legislators who have backed it all along.
House Bill 142 literally does not do one thing to protect the LGBT community and locks in HB2’s most basic and offensive provision. It repeals HB2 in name only and will not satisfy any business or organization that is truly intolerant of an anti-gay environment and of a state that codifies discrimination.
[…]
This was the first real test of leadership for Gov. Cooper, a Democrat, and he failed spectacularly by inexplicably discarding his earlier promise not to accept any deal that left people vulnerable to discrimination. The new law ensures that all gay people – not just transgender people seeking to relieve themselves without being harassed – are susceptible to unequal treatment for at least the next 3 ½ years.
The two schools involved have not spoken out about the newly filed bill, but it looks pretty certain that the issues in North Carolina are not going away.
Not saying the bill will pass, but the ACC and NCAA got playyyyed
— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) April 12, 2017
It is unclear whether or not HB728 has a realistic chance of passing, but it’s not a great look for the ACC and NCAA, after the two kowtowed to a very lacking replacement bill.
