North Carolina could lose NCAA sporting events for the next six years if its legislature fails to repeal a controversial anti-LGBTQ law passed last year, sports officials in the state warned in a letter to lawmakers on Monday. The law in question ― known as HB2 ― barred cities and localities from enacting laws to protect people from discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and required that students at North Carolina schools use bathrooms that match their gender assignment at birth, rather than their gender identity. The law has already cost the state dearly: Last year, the NBA moved the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, while the NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference relocated sporting events out of the state. The failure to repeal HB2 could compound those losses in the coming days, according to the North Carolina Sports Association, a nonprofit organization whose “purpose is to grow, promote and enhance the general welfare of the sports industry in North Carolina.”The NCAA, the state association said in a Monday letter addressed to North Carolina lawmakers, is currently evaluating bids for future postseason events. The letter states that the NCAA has told the association that “due to their stance on HB2, all North Carolina bids will be pulled from the review process and removed from consideration.”

Source: Huffington Post February 06, 2017 19:15 UTC