If you haven't heard, the NCAA and the ACC have both pulled their numerous championships from Greensboro for this coming year. Why? The NCAA specifically is citing NC's stance on LGBT rights. The NCAA declared on September 12 that they were pulling seven separate championships from "tourney town" and the ACC followed by declaring the same on September 14. The ACC is pulling all their major title games from the state, even though the ACC is based in Greensboro, NC. Not to mention the NBA pulled the All-Star game from Charlotte this past July.
Since the passage of HB2, known as "the bathroom law," the state of North Carolina has suffered dramatically. Stars have refused to hold concerts here (Bruce Springstein, Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas), Broadway has declared that Wicked won't come to NC, many states, cities, and even countries have restricted travel of citizens to North Carolina (New York, Seattle, England and more), and losing the sporting events are just the most recent in a huge line of losses for the state. In fact, it's estimated that North Carolina has lost out on just under $400 million in revenue!
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All of this, you probably heard in the news. It's not brand new, even if there's always something else compounding it. So why am I bringing this to your attention again? Why bring up the pain of losing so much business because of a law?
Because this needs to stop. HB2 has done far more damage than good at this point, and it's time to look at repealing the entire law. To be honest, it's not about the morals of the law anymore. Whether you agree wholeheartedly with the law or despise it's very existence, our common ground happens to be all the business we're losing. No one thinks about this until you've lost it, but North Carolina isn't typically a go-to tourist stop. That said, we have a ton to offer as a state! We've got amazing beaches, gorgeous mountains, and several big cities that are great tourist attractions - but only if people are coming and staying here.
The fact is, if people are going to want to bring their business here, they want to be safe. With HB2 in effect, it's perfectly legal to discriminate against anyone based on their sexual orientation. When a business turns someone away, just imagine how the person feels. They don't want to return because of they been humiliated, made to feel uncomfortable, and suddenly there are negative associations with the location. The NCAA feels like they cannot bring their event to Greensboro because the state does not promise that an NCAA player, guest, or worker will not be discriminated against or humiliated.
So why talk about this again? If the damage is already done, why argue about it now? Because the damage could continue getting higher from here. From a Greensboro City Council meeting I attended this week, I learned that Greensboro alone has just over 50 bids pending for events to come to this area. One way we could lose those bids is by having HB2 in place. Not to mention we run the risk of losing even more business by people not considering our area any more. Take, for example, Wilmington's film industry. Lionsgate and A+E have already stated that they aren't going to film any more TV shows or movies unless HB2 is repealed. They aren't going to be getting people interested in filming here for the same reasons the NCAA pulled their tournament. It doesn't matter if you think they are wrong for doing that, it matters that they believe NC is wrong for passing the law.
Additionally, you have to consider the jobs that depend on some of these huge events to keep bringing hours and customers. The Greensboro Coliseum, which has held several NCAA and ACC events in the past few years, has event staff that now aren't going to be able to work because there is no longer an event. Hours they could have been working are now gone, along with the money that they would have earned. Not to mention you're missing out on so many events that could have been in the area - like Charlotte and the All-Star game. The Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority estimates that the Charlotte area will lose upwards of $100 million thanks to the loss of the NBA All-Star game. That's not just in game tickets either - that's in restaurant business, airline tickets, hotel reservations, local attractions, and more.
Oh, and did I mention that North Carolina stands to lose upwards of 5 billion dollars in federal funding to public schools and universities depending on how the Justice Department's lawsuit goes? Just to remind you, UNCG is a public university, along with NC State, ECU, UNC Chapel Hill, and other UNC schools.
So before you argue that HB2 is protecting people or taking away rights, look at the business side of things. HB2 is negatively impacting the state's economy, reputation, and tourism, all of which could potentially recover if the law was repealed. Let's bring back the NCAA, the ACC, and the NBA All-Star game (a different year). Let's bring back the film, theater, and performance industries. Let's rebuild our state and move forward from here.
