Six U.S. senators released a letter Tuesday urging NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to move the league’s All-Star Game out of Charlotte, North Carolina, due to the state's anti-LGBT law. Colin Campbell reports:
“We hold no ill-will towards the people of Charlotte, who passed an antidiscrimination measure that HB2 overturned, or towards the people of North Carolina,” the senators wrote in the letter. “However, we cannot condone nor stand idly by as North Carolina moves to legalize and institutionalize discrimination against the LGBT community. Nor should the NBA allow its premier annual event to be hosted in such a state. Doing so, we believe, would be inconsistent with the NBA’s history and values.”
The letter, which was spearheaded by Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, also included signatures from Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey, Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, and Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois.