North Carolina Congressman Robert Pittenger is asking the National Basketball Association to justify its decision to move its 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte in protest of the state’s controversial “bathroom law.”
The NBA announced the decision Thursday in a statement calling the state’s bathroom law, also known as HB2, incompatible with the “long-standing core values” of the league, such as “diversity, inclusion, fairness and respect for others.” Critics have described the law, which requires individuals to use public restrooms that correspond to the gender of their birth, as discriminatory to the transgender community.
Rep. Pittenger authored a letter in response to the NBA’s decision noting that the NBA was currently selling tickets for preseason games to be held in China later this year. Was this not a bit hypocritical, given China’s abysmal record on human rights abuses far worse than passing a law about bathrooms?
The congressman also tweeted his thoughts on the matter.
Last week met constituents from China who outlined Chinese gov't practice of forcefully harvesting vital organs from religious minorities
— Rep Robert Pittenger (@reppittenger) July 21, 2016
Next week, @NBA will start selling tickets for preseason games in China . . . where the gov't forcefully harvests organs from dissidents
— Rep Robert Pittenger (@reppittenger) July 21, 2016
Is @NBA implying China's abhorrent violation of human rights acceptable, but NC saying men shouldn't use girls' locker room bridge too far?
— Rep Robert Pittenger (@reppittenger) July 21, 2016
What is the @NBA's true priority? The unmistakable #hypocrisy is clear to me. You be your own judge.
— Rep Robert Pittenger (@reppittenger) July 21, 2016
The NBA has also sponsored games abroad in Russia, where on top of legal discrimination gays are beaten by vigilante thugs, as well as Mexico, where transgender individuals are evidently not treated very well, otherwise they wouldn’t be seeking asylum in the United States.
A number of musicians and other celebrities have boycotted the state of North Carolina in protest of the bathroom law, even though these same celebrities have performed in countries where gay and transgender individuals can face fines, imprisonment, or even death.
Ironically enough, as far as the NBA decision is concerned, the North Carolina bathroom law was enacted after the city of Charlotte, a relatively liberal municipality, passed an ordinance to prohibit discrimination against transgender individuals.
