Posted on July 21, 2016
Our activism works: NBA pulls All-Star Game from North Carolina
Our activism works. Today, news broke that the NBA is moving the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte because of HB 2, North Carolina’s discriminatory, anti-LGBT law.
After HB 2 passed, the NBA criticized the law as being against its values of equality and respect but NBA Commissioner Adam Silver didn’t take any real action, instead saying that the NBA was working with North Carolina officials to encourage them to back away from their anti-LGBT agenda.
It quickly became clear that North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory and the North Carolina legislature were not going to back down, and instead were going to do everything in their power to maintain state-sponsored discrimination against transgender people in their state. CREDO activists were relentless in pressuring the NBA to stop waiting for North Carolina’s politicians to do the right thing. Almost 50,000 CREDO members signed a petition to the NBA demanding it stand up for its own principles of equality and immediately move the All-Star Game. More than 7,000 CREDO Mobile members responded to a call to action in their May phone bills by sending physical letters to Commissioner Silver’s office echoing that demand. In addition, CREDO members made more than 2,000 phone calls to the commissioner urging him to act.
Since last year’s Supreme Court victory on marriage equality, right-wing extremists have doubled down in their efforts to block LGBT equality, especially at the state level. It’s absolutely essential that progressives fight back with the same level of commitment. You can help add more voices to this important work, and celebrate the power of our collective activism, by sharing the news of this victory with your friends and family.
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And if you haven’t yet joined our campaign demanding that the NCAA follow the NBA’s lead and stop hosting games in North Carolina until HB 2 is repealed, you can add your name here: http://act.credoaction.com/sign/NCAA_NC
We are grateful for your engagement with the important work we do together and look forward to continuing to work together to fight for LGBT equality.