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NBA All-Star Game could be moved from North Carolina over anti-LGBT law

The NBA’s flagship exhibition event is scheduled to be held in the state’s capital Charlotte next February

Mark Critchley
Friday 22 April 2016 11:07 BST
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NBA commissioner Adam Silver
NBA commissioner Adam Silver

Adam Silver, the commissioner of the National Basketball Association, has confirmed that 2017’s NBA All-Star Game will be moved from North Carolina if the state does not repeal its anti-LGBT law.

The NBA’s flagship exhibition event is scheduled to be held in the state’s capital Charlotte in February of next year, but could be moved in response to the controversial measure.

North Carolina lawmakers passed legislation which codified the legality of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity last month.

"We've been, I think, crystal clear, that a change in the law is necessary to play in the kind of environment that we think is appropriate for a celebratory NBA event," said Silver, according to the Washington Post.

Silver stopped short of specifying when such a decision would be made, preferring not to enforce a deadline, but gave the NBA's clearest condemnation of the legislation yet.

“…if the view of the people who were allied with us, in terms of a change, the view of the people on the ground in North Carolina was that the situation would best be served by us not setting a deadline, then we would not set a deadline at this time,” he added.

After Charlotte’s city council prohibited businesses from LGBT discrimination last month, the state’s government overturned the measure and signed a new bill into law which banned local legislation which protects LGBT people.

The state’s measures also prohibited transgender people from using toilets or locker rooms in schools and government agency buildings that align with their gender identity.

Transgender people are instead forced to use rooms based on the gender which is registered on their birth certificate.

The legislation has attracted widespread censure and mobilised LGBT activists across the United States.

Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and the rock band Pearl Jam have all cancelled gigs in North Carolina in protest against the state’s measures.

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