Band Death Cab for Cutie will play NC - donating money to pro-LGBT groups

WTVD logo
Friday, June 3, 2016
Rock group Death Cab for Cutie performs at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP photo Scott Roth/Invision)
Rock group Death Cab for Cutie performs at Madison Square Garden in New York. (AP photo Scott Roth/Invision)
images

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The musical group Band Death Cab for Cutie said Friday that it will not cancel two North Carolina performances this month in protest against the controversial HB2 law, but will donate the money earned to two pro-LGBT groups.

In a statement on its website, the band said:

We, Death Cab for Cutie and Chvrches are deeply saddened by the recent passage of North Carolina's hateful and dangerous House Bill 2 (aka, HB2 or the "bathroom law."). We are appalled by how Governor Pat McCrory and his conservative cronies have stoked the flames of fear around an undocumented, non-issue (i.e., sexual predators posing as transgender for the purpose of molesting children) as a way to not only discriminate against transgender persons but also to undermine the constitutional rights of North Carolina's entire LGBT community. This nefarious brand of bigotry is embarrassing for the state of North Carolina and has no place in this great nation.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE STATEMENT

The shows are set for Asheville on June 11 and Charlotte on June 16.

The band said the money will go to North Carolina-based organizations Freedom Center for Social Justice and Southerners On New Ground (SONG).

"...whom we admire for their tireless defense of LGBT rights in the state of North Carolina. We will not be taking a single dime from these shows. All profits will be donated to these important organizations," said the band.

HB2 was designed to block a Charlotte non-discrimination ordinance, part of which allowed transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms of the gender they identify with. The state law requires people to use the restroom according to their biological sex listed on their birth certificate in government buildings, schools, and universities. The law also excludes lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from anti-discrimination protections and blocks municipalities from adopting their own anti-discrimination and living wage rules.

HB2 EXPLAINED

Steve Daniels gives an overview of House Bill 2

Report a Typo