Technology leaders from around the country are urging Adam Silver to move the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, North Carolina. North Carolina passed HB2 a law that limits anti-discriminates against the LGBT community.
The Associated Press obtained the letter
the executives tell Silver that putting fans at risk of discrimination would “send a terrible message about who the NBA is and what it values as an organization, and set a dangerous precedent.”
“If the NBA holds events in North Carolina while HB2 remains law, players, employees, and fans will be at risk of discrimination – and that’s wrong,” the letter said.
The letter was sent by SV Angel founder and co-managing partner Ron Conway and includes signatures from executives from companies such as Google, Reddit, PayPal, Lyft and Pinterest. They ask the NBA to be a “strong ally to the LGBTQ community” and use “its considerable might to bring advocates into those conversations and press for full repeal of the law.”
“The NBA has nothing to lose by taking a stand alongside hundreds of other companies and showing support for its LGBTQ players, employees, and fans,” the letter said.
Silver talked about the issue before game one of the NBA Finals.
“The discussions are ongoing. I was in North Carolina about two and a half weeks ago, spoke to a lot of business leaders in Charlotte working behind the scenes, frankly to craft some sort of compromise with the governmental leaders both in the city and the state. I would say there’s absolutely strong interest in trying to work something out that both sides of the issue recognize, however heartfelt their views that the current state of being is causing enormous economic damage to the state. I think they realize that we very much would like to play next year’s all-star game in North Carolina as I’ve said before.
We of course have a team in Charlotte, North Carolina so we as a league want to make sure there is an environment in which the LGBT community feels protected in North Carolina. At the same time, I think the bathroom issue frankly has become a little bit of a distraction, that from the very beginning that was not the core issue here. It was protection for the LGBT community in terms of economic rights, personal rights. […] I think if we can make progress there, we will see you all in Charlotte in February.”
The NBA owners meet this week in Las Vegas for their annual meeting and this issue most certainly will come up.
