The NCAA, a formidable opponent of the original version of North Carolina’s so-called bathroom bill, has “reluctantly” ended its boycott of the state after the repeal of the bill last week.
The organization that governs college athletics, which had pulled championship events from the state in protest of the bill, said in a statement that a law passed to replace it “has minimally achieved a situation where we believe NCAA championships may be conducted in a nondiscriminatory environment.” However, the NCAA added a reminder that, “if we find that our expectations of a discrimination-free environment are not met, we will not hesitate to take necessary action at any time.”
The replacement law has drawn both applause and criticism and the NCAA’s statement says the “new law is far from perfect.” But it is beginning to assign championships and says it has been “assured by the state that this new law allows the NCAA to enact its inclusive policies by contract with communities, universities, arenas, hotels, and other service providers that are doing business with us, our students, other participants, and fans.
“Further, outside of bathroom facilities, the new law allows our campuses to maintain their own policies against discrimination, including protecting LGBTQ rights, and allows cities’ existing nondiscrimination ordinances, including LBGTQ protections, to remain effective.”
The original law, known as House Bill 2, removed anti-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and required transgender people to use public bathrooms that aligned with their birth gender. The replacement bill leaves regulation of bathrooms to the state legislature, but bars local governments from passing their own ordinances.
“In the end, a majority on the NCAA Board of Governors reluctantly voted to allow consideration of championship bids in North Carolina by our committees that are presently meeting,” the NCAA said. “The NCAA championships previously awarded to North Carolina for 2017-18 will remain in the state. The board, however, directs that any site awarded a championship event in North Carolina or elsewhere be required to submit additional documentation demonstrating how student-athletes and fans will be protected from discrimination.”
The Human Rights Campaign said it was disappointed by the news. “The NCAA’s decision to backtrack on their vow to protect LGBTQ players, employees and fans is deeply disappointing and puts people at risk,” HRC President Chad Griffin said in an email to The Post. “After drawing a line in the sand and calling for repeal of HB2, the NCAA simply let North Carolina lawmakers off the hook.”
He was echoed by Chris Sgro, executive director of Equality NC. “It is disappointing to see the NCAA backpedal after it stood strong against the deeply discriminatory HB2. HB142 continues the same discriminatory scheme put forward by HB2 and does little to protect the NCAA’s players, employees, and fans. The NCAA’s decision has put a seal of approval on state-sanctioned discrimination.”
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper (D) said the legislative compromise “was an important step forward for our state. While more work remains to be done, it’s good news that the NCAA will be returning to North Carolina. We will continue our work with them to fight for statewide anti-discrimination protections for LGBT North Carolinians.”
After the state’s action last week, NCAA President Mark Emmert sought to strike a conciliatory tone in remarks at the Final Four in Phoenix, but issued a subtle reminder of the NCAA’s standards of inclusiveness for neutral-site championships.
“The NCAA does not consider itself – the board, myself, the staff – an entity that has any business telling a state what their laws should be,” he said, adding, “States’ laws and communities’ laws are the business of their elected leaders and the citizens of those states. We, on the other hand, have a job to determine which states we will take our championships to and making sure that we can do that in environments that support the collegiate model and the 1,100 colleges and universities that are part of the NCAA.”
Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, saw the NCAA’s announcement in the framework of those comments last week. “It would appear the NCAA is beginning to address the question that NCAA’s Mark Emmert raised in his news conference last week at the Final Four: ‘What’s the appropriate role for a national athletic association in public policy issues?'” Perkins said in a statement emailed to The Post. “The NCAA’s latest decision to accept the slight modifications the North Carolina legislature made to HB2 suggest either they decided to stick to sports or they are starting to ignore the small but rowdy agitators who have used the NCAA to fight their losing political battle over North Carolina’s public safety bill.
“It’s now clear that there is no way for the NCAA to placate the far left which will accept nothing less than the total surrender of those opposed to its agenda of opening every shower, locker room and bathroom to both men and women. The NCAA announcement is also positive news for supporters of the Texas Privacy Act, a bill quite similar to the law now in effect in North Carolina. We encourage the Texas House Speaker Joe Straus, who has said he won’t block the Texas Privacy Act, to schedule a floor vote on this legislation to help ensure the safety and well-being of Texas women and children.”
This isn’t the first time the NCAA has led on a social issue. Only days before the Final Four in Indianapolis two years ago, Emmert spoke forcefully about the new Religious Freedom Restoration Act that allowed businesses to refuse to serve gay customers. The NCAA, he told ESPN, wants to hold its championship in an “inclusive” environment and “right now we’re not sure that we have that” in Indianapolis, which is also home to the NCAA’s headquarters. “We’re very serious about our core values and we want to make sure we can operate in an environment that is supportive of those values, so this is a very serious issue for us.” That law was quickly changed.
The NCAA took the lead in North Carolina, too, when it banned championship events from the state. Michael Jordan, Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski, three of the state’s highest-profile citizens, spoke in opposition to the law, which cost the state the NBA All-Star Game in February. Duke’s Krzyzewski called the bill “a stupid thing” and N.C. State Coach Mike Gottfried said he was “appalled” by the bill. Overall, it is estimated that the bill cost the state $3.7 billion. In addition to revenue from NCAA and NBA events, a number of high-profile artists canceled concerts in the state.
Here’s the NCAA’s full statement:
In August of 2016, the NCAA Board of Governors instructed the relocation of NCAA championships scheduled in North Carolina during the 2016-17 academic year because of the cumulative impact HB2 had on local communities’ ability to ensure a safe, healthy, discrimination-free atmosphere for all those watching and participating in our events.
Last week, the elected officials of North Carolina enacted compromise legislation that repealed HB2 and replaced it with a new law, HB142, that addressed a number of the concerns that led to the relocation of the NCAA championships. As with most compromises, this new law is far from perfect.
The NCAA did not lobby for any specific change in the law. The Board of Governors, however, was hopeful that the state would fully repeal HB2 in order to allow the host communities to ensure a safe, healthy, discrimination-free atmosphere for the championship sites. While the new law meets the minimal NCAA requirements, the board remains concerned that some may perceive North Carolina’s moratorium against affording opportunities for communities to extend basic civil rights as a signal that discriminatory behavior is permitted and acceptable, which is inconsistent with the NCAA Bylaws.
However, we recognize the quality championships hosted by the people of North Carolina in years before HB2. And this new law restores the state to that legal landscape: a landscape similar to other jurisdictions presently hosting NCAA championships.
We are actively determining site selections, and this new law has minimally achieved a situation where we believe NCAA championships may be conducted in a nondiscriminatory environment. If we find that our expectations of a discrimination-free environment are not met, we will not hesitate to take necessary action at any time.
We have been assured by the state that this new law allows the NCAA to enact its inclusive policies by contract with communities, universities, arenas, hotels, and other service providers that are doing business with us, our students, other participants, and fans. Further, outside of bathroom facilities, the new law allows our campuses to maintain their own policies against discrimination, including protecting LGBTQ rights, and allows cities’ existing nondiscrimination ordinances, including LBGTQ protections, to remain effective.
In the end, a majority on the NCAA Board of Governors reluctantly voted to allow consideration of championship bids in North Carolina by our committees that are presently meeting. The NCAA championships previously awarded to North Carolina for 2017-18 will remain in the state. The board, however, directs that any site awarded a championship event in North Carolina or elsewhere be required to submit additional documentation demonstrating how student-athletes and fans will be protected from discrimination.
(c) 2017, The Washington Post ยท Cindy Boren
