The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced late Monday it will pull all league tournaments and championship games out of North Carolina, including the men’s basketball series that had been set to be played in Greensboro next spring.
“Fairness is about more than the opportunity to participate in college sports, or even compete for championships,” Mark Emmert, the NCAA president, said in a statement. “We believe in providing a safe and respectful environment at our events and are committed to providing the best experience possible for college athletes, fans and everyone taking part in our championships.”
In March, the state legislature passed House Bill 2, which maintains men and women must use public restroom and locker facilities for the sex they were declared at birth, not the one a person currently identifies with.
Republican Gov. Pat McCrory signed the bill into law and with that, the NBA All-Star Game, major music concerts and other events were pulled out of the Tar Heel State in support of the LGBT community.
The NCAA said its national panel of university presidents was responsible for its decision, which came down to the league’s “commitment to fairness and inclusion.”
Kami Mueller, spokeswoman for the state’s Republican Party delivered a scathing response to the NCAA.
“This is so absurd it’s almost comical. I genuinely look forward to the NCAA merging all men’s and women’s teams together as singular, unified, unisex teams. Under the NCAA’s logic, colleges should make cheerleaders and football players share bathrooms, showers and hotel rooms. This decision is an assault to female athletes across the nation. If you are unwilling to have women’s bathrooms and locker rooms, how do you have a women’s team? I wish the NCAA was this concerned about the women who were raped at Baylor. Perhaps the NCAA should stop with their political peacocking – and instead focus their energies on making sure our nation’s athletes are safe, both on and off the field,” Mueller said in a statement.
In addition to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, North Carolina will no longer host the women’s soccer, men’s soccer, women’s golf, men’s tennis, women’s tennis, women’s lacrosse, and men’s baseball championship games. The league has not determined where these athletic events will be held instead.
