GOP senator joins Democrats asking NBA to move All-Star Game over North Carolina's anti-LGBT law

6 senators ask NBA commissioner Adam Silver to pull All-Star game from North Carolina
(Image credit: Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

On Tuesday, six U.S. senators, including Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), sent a letter to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver asking him to pull the 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte, North Carolina, because of the state's controversial anti-LGBT law, HB2. "We hold no ill-will towards the people of Charlotte, who passed an anti-discrimination measure that HB2 overturned, or towards the people of North Carolina," the five Democrats and Kirk wrote. “However, we cannot condone nor stand idly by as North Carolina moves to legalize and institutionalize discrimination against the LGBT community." The law is "a license to discriminate," they added, and the NBA shouldn't allow its "premier annual event to be hosted in such a state."

Kirk, up for re-election in November, is one of four Senate Republicans who support same-sex marriage. The other signatories are Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Patrick Leahy (Vt.), Cory Booker (N.J.), Patty Murray (Wash.), and Tammy Baldwin (Wis.). Amid a growing national backlash against the law, Gov. Pat McCrory ordered changes on Tuesday to some of its provisions. Bruce Springsteen famously canceled a concert in the state because of the law, but several country music stars have also criticized the law and another new anti-LGBT law in Mississippi, warning that a similar bill under consideration in Tennessee could hurt Nashville's economy.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.