As you probably know by now, the NBA moved the All-Star Game out of Charlotte last week, and Republicans sure are pissed about itespecially the governor, who blasted the media, activists, and the “sports and entertainment elite” for the NBA’s decision.
Chris Sgro, the Equality NC director who served in the short session as a state representative from Greensboro, had an interesting interaction with McCrory as he was walking into a press conference in Charlotte last Friday. As Sgro recounted on Twitter: “.@PatMcCroryNC just shouted at me ‘congrats, you got what you wanted.’ Actually, Governor, we all lostbecause of you.”
“The governor was on Charlotte Talks this morning,” Sgro told the INDY Friday. “He was just spouting a tremendous amount of mistruths about Charlotte’s role in losing the All-Star Game and safety and security, so I went over to his press conference, and then he moved the press conference to a secure location that I didn’t have access to.”
That’s when the interaction he described on Twitter happened.
“No one got what they wanted, and the fault is with the governor,” Sgro says. “If the governor is going to continue to spread false information about HB 2 and its impacts, as well as what happened with the All-Star Game, when he knows very well that it’ll move to a city with the protections Charlotte had, he owes a conversation to the LGBT community. And that’s something that needs to happen soon.”
Sgro is right: New Orleans, which is said to be the frontrunner to get the All-Star Game, is one of over two hundred American cities with a nondiscrimination ordinance that includes protections based on gender identity.
McCrory shouldn’t take it from us; he should give the NBA’s statement a read: “While we recognize that the NBA cannot choose the law in every city, state, and country in which we do business, we do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2.”
Notice that you won’t find Sgro, Charlotte mayor Jennifer Roberts, the Charlotte City Council, the LGBTQ community, or any other group McCrory would like to blame for losing a $100 million-plus event, listed as the reason why the NBA is moving the All-Star Game. No, the NBA specifically says that the “climate created by HB 2” was the basis for the decision.
Own it, Governor.
