RALEIGH Gov. Pat McCrory issued the following statement on the NCAA’s move to pull championship games from N.C. because of House Bill 2.”The issue of redefining gender and basic norms of privacy will be resolved in the near future in the United States court system for not only North Carolina, but the entire nation,” read the statement. “I strongly encourage all public and private institutions to both respect and allow our nation’s judicial system to proceed without economic threats or political retaliation toward the 22 states that are currently challenging government overreach. Sadly, the NCAA, a multi-billion dollar, tax-exempt monopoly, failed to show this respect at the expense of our student athletes and hard-working men and women.”The statement comes the day after the NCAA made the announcement saying the decision to move the events because of H.B. 2 was in line with their policy that bans championships in states that display the Confederate battle flag of the U.S. Civil War or authorize sports wagering, and at schools that use “hostile or abusive” Native American imagery.”Fairness and inclusion are right at the heart of what the NCAA does and what universities do,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said on “CBS This Morning.” “And so for our university presidents, this was the proverbial no-brainer.”Two months ago the National Basketball Association moved its 2017 All-Star Game from North Carolina to New Orleans for the same reason.H.B. 2 deals with, among other things, the authority of local governments to impose anti-discrimination laws on private business. Its most controversial provision requires that in publicly owned buildings, individuals use the multi-stall restroom facilities designated for the sex listed on their birth certificate if a single-stall “family” restroom is not available.The law came in response to an ordinance passed by the Charlotte City Council in February 2016 that prevented facilities open to the public from differentiating any bathrooms or locker room facilities by sex. The ordinance did this by eliminating the exception of such facilities from existing anti-discrimination rules, which state that businesses cannot discriminate based on race, sex and other factors. Eliminating the exception for restrooms essentially meant all of them became gender neutral, setting off a political and cultural firestorm.North Carolina Republican Party spokeswoman Kami Mueller took aim at the NCAA’s decision in a statement, contrasting the decision to the recent sexual assault scandal at Baylor University in Texas.”This is so absurd it’s almost comical,” Mueller said in the statement. “I genuinely look forward to the NCAA merging all men’s and women’s teams together as singular, unified, unisex teams. Under the NCAA’s logic, colleges should make cheerleaders and football players share bathrooms, showers and hotel rooms. This decision is an assault to female athletes across the nation. If you are unwilling to have women’s bathrooms and locker rooms, how do you have a women’s team? “I wish the NCAA was this concerned about the women who were raped at Baylor,” Mueller continued. “Perhaps the NCAA should stop with their political peacocking and instead focus their energies on making sure our nation’s collegiate athletes are safe, both on and off the field.”
