On anniversary of HB2, NCAA says stance hasn't changed
RALEIGH, North Carolina (WTVD) -- House Bill 2 could go down as a most costly pieces of legislation. One year after it was rammed through the General Assembly in a one-day special session and signed into law, top Republican leader say they are still working on a comprise to repeal the law.
"We'll get North Carolina in a better place," said Senate Pro Temp Phil Berger. "It is incumbent upon us to look at that and to see what those problems are, and the ways we can move past that."
Another repeal bill is being drafted. Republicans hold the power to push legislation through or stall it.
Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore are vowing to keep the bathroom provision in place.
"We're not backing off those privacy issues. That's not changing," Moore said.
The NCAA is threatening to boycott North Carolina unless HB2 is repealed. The sports organization is considering to move five years' worth of championships games.
Wake County has 57 bids out for games through 2022 and the loss of the events are projected to cost $30 million.
The Greater Raleigh Visitors Bureau is still not commenting on potentially losing these games.
The NCAA will start deciding on locations for its upcoming championships next week and has indicated it will leave North Carolina out of that process if the state hasn't changed a law that limits LGBT rights by that time.
In a statement Thursday, exactly one year to the day after the law was passed, the sports organization said its committees will begin picking championship sites for 2018-22 and will announce those decisions April 18. The statement also noted that "once the sites are selected by the committee, those decisions are final."
The NCAA stated its position has not changed since last fall, when it pulled seven championship events from the state because of the law known as HB2.
Republican leaders remain unfazed.
"If there's an entity out there, whether it's a sports league or somebody else, that's going to tell North Carolina that we have to let men in the women's showers that's too bad. We're not going to change that. That's just not going to happen," Moore said.
Supporters argue HB2 protects the general public, while opponents believe the law is discriminatory.
RELATED: HOUSE BILL 2: ONE YEAR LATER, WHERE DOES IT STAND?
Angela Bridgman, a transgender woman, hasn't left home for a year without one important document.
She said, "I keep that birth certificate on me just in case I need it to get out of trouble."
Bridgman joined a small group and marched through the General Assembly on the one year anniversary of HB2. The demonstrators delivered flip-flops to a handful of lawmakers. It was meant to represent how they feel some have gone back and forth on their position to repeal.
"Do the right thing. You say you're going to do the right thing, but what are you doing but sitting on your hands. You're doing nothing," said Wake Forest resident and HB2 opponent George Micheal.
Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement:
Today marks a dark anniversary for our state. For one year now, HB2 has harmed our reputation and cost our economy thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars. I have offered numerous compromises and remain open to any deal that will bring jobs and sports back to North Carolina and begin to repair our reputation."
"North Carolinians have spoken clearly that HB2 does not reflect our values and must be repealed. Legislative Republicans have been all too happy to use their supermajorities to pass damaging partisan laws. It's time for them to step up, meet halfway, and repeal HB2."
Greensboro was scheduled to host first- and second-round games in the men's NCAA tournament last weekend and Charlotte is scheduled to host opening-weekend NCAA tournament games next year. The games scheduled for Greensboro were relocated to Greenville, South Carolina. Playing before what effectively was a home crowd, seventh-seeded South Carolina upset second-seeded Duke on Sunday night.
The law also led the ACC to pull its neutral-site championships out of its home state for this academic year, moving its football championship game to Orlando, Florida, and its women's basketball tournament to Conway, South Carolina. This year's NBA All-Star game was moved from Charlotte to New Orleans, and some businesses halted expansions and musicians canceled concerts in the state.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
