Rocker Bruce Springsteen took some time out of his Detroit concert Thursday night to warn Michigan that he would not come back if the state passes a law reminiscent of North Carolina’s new “bathroom law.”
“We hope the bill doesn’t pass, ’cause we love playing in Michigan,” Springsteen said at the Palace in Auburn Hills. “So keep your heads up.”
According to Billboard, Springsteen then launched into a rendition of “Born in the USA,” a politically charged song about the negative effects of the Vietnam War and the treatment of Vietnam veterans upon their return home.
Springsteen was presumably responding to comments made by Michigan state Sen. Tom Casperson, who announced in March plans to introduce a bill mandating that K-12 students use the bathroom and locker room of their birth gender.
Casperson’s proposed bill is a direct response to a state Department of Education Draft Guidance document, “Safe and Supportive Learning Environments for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning (LGBTQ) Students.”
“It is hard to believe that a state board, which is clearly out of touch with Michigan residents, got assistance from equally out of touch unelected bureaucrats to develop such a document to fundamentally change Michigan’s public education system without the public’s prior knowledge or consent,” Casperson said in a statement on his website.
“In the pursuit of social justice, this so-called draft guidance document creates numerous problems, from the elimination of parental authority and notification to threatening student safety and beyond. My bill would stop this policy dead in its tracks.”
North Carolina passed a bill in March with the same stipulations as Casperson’s proposed one, which many have claimed discriminates against transgender people.
Springsteen, along with other big musical acts like Ringo Starr and Jimmy Buffett, have condemned North Carolina’s law and either canceled or threaten to cancel shows in the Tar Heel State.
