2017 All Star Game Moved From Charlotte

[MPM]

So...this happened. I mentioned my view on the GB. First mistake. I was then told that I was a "selfish jerk" and that I "deserve to have my daughter sexually assaulted." So...wow...discourse is dead, huh?

[countryboi]

People say they want Freedom till that means giving rights to people other than themselves. you dont get to have it both ways either everyone has equal rights or no one is free. It feels like people really want a dictatorship that believes in what they believe in. On another note trans people have been going to the bathroom of their choice way before HB2....its not like were pissing outside before.

[Diop]

So...this happened. I mentioned my view on the GB. First mistake. I was then told that I was a "selfish jerk" and that I "deserve to have my daughter sexually assaulted." So...wow...discourse is dead, huh?

thats the GB for ya.

[Diop]

People say they want Freedom till that means giving rights to people other than themselves. you dont get to have it both ways either everyone has equal rights or no one is free. It feels like people really want a dictatorship that believes in what they believe in.

does this include business's? allowing them the freedom to do what ever they want with their building including the toilets they own?
wouldn't absolute free rights to everyone mean no rules at all? I mean laws are just restricting the rights of criminals.

On another note trans people have been going to the bathroom of their choice way before HB2....its not like were pissing outside before.

this is the part that annoys me the most, i doubt little would actually change, but the argument alone has caused a ton of disruption.
I do believe it was largely about the City fighting the state/nation over blanket laws and policy. The toilet issue is just a part of the whole argument, but in todays society a noisy part that gets the most attention.

[MPM]

So...this happened. I mentioned my view on the GB. First mistake. I was then told that I was a "selfish jerk" and that I "deserve to have my daughter sexually assaulted." So...wow...discourse is dead, huh?

thats the GB for ya.

We have a Spanish restaurant down the street that I really want to like - cool atmosphere, pretty waitresses, stumbling distance from the flat, but the food is just epically bad. With time, I forget how awful it is and am lured back in, only to leave shaking my head for being so stupid - again. I seem to go about once a year to remind myself how bad it is. That's the GB.

[Walt Cronkite]

Please show links to data or information specific to schools. In a country where we rightfully prosecute persons who display their penis to women or girls without invitation, or who do so to children under 18 without any justification, we legalize it via a policy in our schools??

http://www.politifact.com/north-carolina/statements/2016/apr/01/chris-sgro/equality-nc-director-no-public-safety-risks-cities/

Maza has also polled public school systems that allow transgender students to use the bathroom of the gender they identify as. In a June 2015 article, he wrote that in 17 districts with a total of 600,00 students, officials hadn’t reported a single incident of "harassment or inappropriate behavior" related to transgender students and bathrooms.

But we still weren’t satisfied, so we kept digging, looking for examples of proven criminal behavior. We were likewise unable to find any examples in the United States, though we did find a case in Canada.

In that case, Christopher Hambrook posed as a woman to gain entry to women’s shelters, where he attacked several people before being caught. Hambrook was sentenced to an "indefinite" jail term in 2014 that could lead to him spending the rest of his life in prison.

[Diop]

Please show links to data or information specific to schools. In a country where we rightfully prosecute persons who display their penis to women or girls without invitation, or who do so to children under 18 without any justification, we legalize it via a policy in our schools??

http://www.politifact.com/north-carolina/statements/2016/apr/01/chris-sgro/equality-nc-director-no-public-safety-risks-cities/

Maza has also polled public school systems that allow transgender students to use the bathroom of the gender they identify as. In a June 2015 article, he wrote that in 17 districts with a total of 600,00 students, officials hadn’t reported a single incident of "harassment or inappropriate behavior" related to transgender students and bathrooms.

But we still weren’t satisfied, so we kept digging, looking for examples of proven criminal behavior. We were likewise unable to find any examples in the United States, though we did find a case in Canada.

In that case, Christopher Hambrook posed as a woman to gain entry to women’s shelters, where he attacked several people before being caught. Hambrook was sentenced to an "indefinite" jail term in 2014 that could lead to him spending the rest of his life in prison.

trust the Current Affairs man to have all the facts

[EwingSweatsALot]

My open letter to Pat Mccrory (sent this to Raleigh as well):

I am so disappointed in you, Governor. I had the opportunity to serve your dinner while you were campaigning in 2008 in Blowing Rock, NC and voted for you. Now, 8 years later, you allow the NBA All-Star game to be removed from Charlotte because of a negative, poison-pill bill that I know in your heart of hearts you don't really believe in, but must fight for in order to secure donor dollars and appease interest groups.

You hit me in the gut today. I am a loyal North Carolinian who graduated high school from the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics and attended NC State University and Appalachian State University. I have two small businesses and a third in progress that have created over 50 jobs in NC. And I am still under 30 years old! Yet most of me really wants to get up and leave this state....the only things keeping me here are the Hornets and Panthers, two of my greatest passions in life.

Regardless of your spin on this bill, it is undoubtedly negative and unfairly targets people that love this state and want to contribute to its education and economy. It offers no protections to women. One of my employees is a wonderful, mid 20's woman who works hard and is always friendly to others. She is a lesbian with female parts (the fact I even have to mention her "parts" is downright degrading to her, but necessary now). The other day she was followed into the bathroom by an older white gentleman, who immediately accused her of being a man based on the way she dresses.

You are doing the exact opposite of the "liberties" that you intended to protect. Remarkably, she didn't get upset over the confrontation but explained that she did, in fact have female parts. I was incredibly angry, seething with rage when she told this to me. But what really can I do? The proponents of House Bill 2 and the media groups that support it have scared the population. You are making this great state and nation scared of other people different than them, and worse, you are alienating many loving, hard working people in this state. The statement you gave today about the NBA moving the 2017 all-star game is not a sufficient reason for discriminating against people I know and love; you blamed it on left wing media and the Obama administration. Please, tell me exactly, why are you hurting the people of this state? Why must we continue to be dumped on, other than to appease your donors and special interest groups?

Awesome letter.

Gotta ban him from your fine establishments. If the ASG moving won't change his tune I guaran-damn-tee you taking away his ability to eat fire fries will. Damn those things are good. I gotta get back up there and get some ASAP.

[EwingSweatsALot]

People say they want Freedom till that means giving rights to people other than themselves. you dont get to have it both ways either everyone has equal rights or no one is free. It feels like people really want a dictatorship that believes in what they believe in. On another note trans people have been going to the bathroom of their choice way before HB2....its not like were pissing outside before.

And on another note to your another note...

The bathroom part is one of the least concerns of the bill but for some reason people have latched onto this part with such strength. The biggest issue is the part of trying to get the LGBT community protection with employment and other things that straight people and different ethnicities have. It's never been spelled out legally for the LGBT community. The fact that people won't to allow this bill because of the bathroom stuff which then doesn't protect other human beings to the right to work is ludicrous.

[Hornet Mania]

It sucks that the league took the ASG, but I understand why. It sounds like MJ got a handshake deal for 2019 so long as state legislature can get their heads out of their asses, or get tossed out on those aforementioned asses by the electorate, before then it's only a delay not a cancellation.

I just hope the NBA is actually consistent on this, since they want to inject themselves into the issue, but I seriously doubt it. If they host the damn game in New Orleans I hope Silver gets eaten by an alligator or whatever local wildlife might dine on a person. Louisiana is 100% as anti-gay as NC ever could be, same goes for Texas and a horde of other states that have hosted the ASG before and will likely host it in the future. Every single one of the states suing the Obama administration over gay rights better have a big red line through their names when the lists of future ASG sites are drawn up. If not, this is grandstanding garbage.

I just hope they don't take the team away again because of the wonderful mix of easily-vilified fringe right-wing NC legislators and NBA officials who need an example of how they "care" about LGBT folks that won't hurt their profitability the way giving China or Texas the middle finger would.

(But seriously! **** New Orleans? Are you **** me Adam Silver? Are you outside of your damn mind? Have you never seen Bobby Jindal talk? Christ man, choose some place that ISN'T also notoriously anti-gay. What a moron. And yeah, I get that the Big Easy is more progressive than their state, but Charlotte is not in step with NC either and that did nothing to save them)

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

OK, just a statement here folks: do any of you have kids or grandkids? I do, and I resent the idea of children having someone in their school bathroom or shower area that is not the same physical gender. Adults dealing with this is one level, but it is overreach by our federal government to go into our schools. For that I believe the NC law is helpful. I also resent the NBA for their overkill on punishment using this vehicle. Losing an all-star game is a small price to pay to protect children from difficult scenarios they are not ready for.

Just my opinion.

Yep have kids. Nope doesn't bother me. I can go into more detail, but not sure that it's really worth it for either one of us. I do get where you are coming from, but disagree that the state law is helpful in any way, shape, or form.

[Snidely FC]

I do believe it was largely about the City fighting the state/nation over blanket laws and policy. The toilet issue is just a part of the whole argument, but in todays society a noisy part that gets the most attention.

this is where you are spot on. republicans have put into motion a master plan to decentralize US governance. the republican party has marshaled their forces to move as much governance over controversial issues to the state and away from the federal level as possible. integral to their plan has been surgically gerrymandering historically democrat voting districts in order to consolidate and perpetuate republican power at the state level. this insidiously undemocratic approach has been ongoing for some years now, is ruthless and effective, and is one of the reasons you are seeing republican led states grouping together to sue Obama over the LGBT issue. HB2 is all about consolidation of republican power at the state level. that, as you point out, includes neutering individual city's that tend to be more liberal

still, it's astonishing to see McCrory accuse liberals of abusing "moral authority" while turning his back on millions in potential revenue to fight the "corporate elite." Since when is it a governor's job to turn away tens of millions of dollars in revenue for his state?

[MPM]

I love "selective corporate elite." Anyone who is on the other side of the fence is an 'elitist' that must be entirely dismissed for their 'elitie-ness'. They'll be rounding up intellectuals soon. Down with experts, long live truthiness.

[Diop]

I do believe it was largely about the City fighting the state/nation over blanket laws and policy. The toilet issue is just a part of the whole argument, but in todays society a noisy part that gets the most attention.

this is where you are spot on. republicans have put into motion a master plan to decentralize US governance. the republican party has marshaled their forces to move as much governance over controversial issues to the state and away from the federal level as possible. integral to their plan has been surgically gerrymandering historically democrat voting districts in order to consolidate and perpetuate republican power at the state level. this insidiously undemocratic approach has been ongoing for some years now, is ruthless and effective, and is one of the reasons you are seeing republican led states grouping together to sue Obama over the LGBT issue. HB2 is all about consolidation of republican power at the state level. that, as you point out, includes neutering individual city's that tend to be more liberal

still, it's astonishing to see McCrory accuse liberals of abusing "moral authority" while turning his back on millions in potential revenue to fight the "corporate elite." Since when is it a governor's job to turn away tens of millions of dollars in revenue for his state?

you also highlighted to me that I'm an uneducated outsider, there is a whole lot more going on that I don't know.

USA just seems like a bewildering place at the moment, or that is how its represented in Australia at the moment. Borderline civil war and massive debates over public toilets.

but on a positive note, Donald Trump could be elected to fix it all.

[Flip Murray]

I do believe it was largely about the City fighting the state/nation over blanket laws and policy. The toilet issue is just a part of the whole argument, but in todays society a noisy part that gets the most attention.

this is where you are spot on. republicans have put into motion a master plan to decentralize US governance. the republican party has marshaled their forces to move as much governance over controversial issues to the state and away from the federal level as possible. integral to their plan has been surgically gerrymandering historically democrat voting districts in order to consolidate and perpetuate republican power at the state level. this insidiously undemocratic approach has been ongoing for some years now, is ruthless and effective, and is one of the reasons you are seeing republican led states grouping together to sue Obama over the LGBT issue. HB2 is all about consolidation of republican power at the state level. that, as you point out, includes neutering individual city's that tend to be more liberal

still, it's astonishing to see McCrory accuse liberals of abusing "moral authority" while turning his back on millions in potential revenue to fight the "corporate elite." Since when is it a governor's job to turn away tens of millions of dollars in revenue for his state?

you also highlighted to me that I'm an uneducated outsider, there is a whole lot more going on that I don't know.

USA just seems like a bewildering place at the moment, or that is how its represented in Australia at the moment. Borderline civil war and massive debates over public toilets.

and North Carolina is ground zero in this fight. It may be the premier battleground between conservative and liberal ideologies in the United States.

[EwingSweatsALot]

some of these people (like McCroy) just need to do research and try to learn about something before they make a law about it.

here is an article (about HB2) with a doctor explaining gender identity in a sound bit.
http://wunc.org/post/science-and-gender-identity#stream/0

OK, just a statement here folks: do any of you have kids or grandkids? I do, and I resent the idea of children having someone in their school bathroom or shower area that is not the same physical gender. Adults dealing with this is one level, but it is overreach by our federal government to go into our schools. For that I believe the NC law is helpful. I also resent the NBA for their overkill on punishment using this vehicle. Losing an all-star game is a small price to pay to protect children from difficult scenarios they are not ready for.

Just my opinion.

Then make a different bill for schools. But don't do it while punishing the LGBT community with civil liberties that everyone else has when it comes to workers rights.

[fatlever]

Nice article from ATH
http://www.atthehive.com/2016/7/22/12254510/trying-to-make-sense-of-the-nbas-decision-to-pull-the-all-star-game

[Bassman]

some of these people (like McCroy) just need to do research and try to learn about something before they make a law about it.

here is an article (about HB2) with a doctor explaining gender identity in a sound bit.
http://wunc.org/post/science-and-gender-identity#stream/0

OK, just a statement here folks: do any of you have kids or grandkids? I do, and I resent the idea of children having someone in their school bathroom or shower area that is not the same physical gender. Adults dealing with this is one level, but it is overreach by our federal government to go into our schools. For that I believe the NC law is helpful. I also resent the NBA for their overkill on punishment using this vehicle. Losing an all-star game is a small price to pay to protect children from difficult scenarios they are not ready for.

Just my opinion.

Then make a different bill for schools. But don't do it while punishing the LGBT community with civil liberties that everyone else has when it comes to workers rights.

I would have preferred they limit this to schools protection, as the broader application (to public restrooms) is impossible to manage even if one wished to.

[Bassman]

Please show links to data or information specific to schools. In a country where we rightfully prosecute persons who display their penis to women or girls without invitation, or who do so to children under 18 without any justification, we legalize it via a policy in our schools??

http://www.politifact.com/north-carolina/statements/2016/apr/01/chris-sgro/equality-nc-director-no-public-safety-risks-cities/

Maza has also polled public school systems that allow transgender students to use the bathroom of the gender they identify as. In a June 2015 article, he wrote that in 17 districts with a total of 600,00 students, officials hadn’t reported a single incident of "harassment or inappropriate behavior" related to transgender students and bathrooms.

But we still weren’t satisfied, so we kept digging, looking for examples of proven criminal behavior. We were likewise unable to find any examples in the United States, though we did find a case in Canada.

In that case, Christopher Hambrook posed as a woman to gain entry to women’s shelters, where he attacked several people before being caught. Hambrook was sentenced to an "indefinite" jail term in 2014 that could lead to him spending the rest of his life in prison.

With all due respect Walt, this story references information from a claim by Media Matters, a major liberal organization, and does not contain footnotes that identify the source of the data. I'm not being critical of you for the reference; I just do not find them credible, particularly with no verification for the source of their research.

The inherent danger of something still exists even if you had no "claims" of violation. I for one do not want my 5 year old granddaughter introduced to the problem. Peace to all, as I respect opinions and share mine accordingly.

[Walt Cronkite]

With all due respect Walt, this story references information from a claim by Media Matters, a major liberal organization, and does not contain footnotes that identify the source of the data. I'm not being critical of you for the reference; I just do not find them credible, particularly with no verification for the source of their research.

The inherent danger of something still exists even if you had no "claims" of violation. I for one do not want my 5 year old granddaughter introduced to the problem. Peace to all, as I respect opinions and share mine accordingly.

The article I linked has sources to the right of the title. The first, which links an article on media matters (so you won't accept it because you don't find them credible), contains 43 source links, not including email exchanges from school boards that are also posted.

Danger always exists. Bad people will do bad things. Ideally, we punish those bad people once we've convicted them guilty of their crimes. Allowing discrimination is wrong.