Do NASCAR and LGBT go hand in hand? In my mind, no. The imagery and words that comes to mind when I think of NASCAR are the deep South, rednecks, hicks, beer, and good ol' boys. Nothing about it screams or even whispers LGBT. So when the organization weighed in on the North Carolina "Bathroom Bill," I wasn't expecting much at all.
Count NASCAR chairman Brian France among those opposing North Carolina's House Bill 2, which has become a point of controversy after Republican legislators in the state passed the law.
Specifically, the law "bars people in North Carolina from using bathrooms that do not match their birth gender and goes further to prohibit municipalities from creating their own antidiscrimination policies," according to the New York Times' Dave Philipps.
Speaking at an Associated Press sports editors meeting earlier this week, France made it clear NASCAR does not condone the legislation that has largely been viewed as discriminatory against the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, per Motorsport.com's Jim Utter:
"I do and we did in Indiana when similar discrimination which were mor religious occurred. We take the position that any discrimination, unintended or not, we do not like that and we are working behind the scenes, and we are not a political institution. We don't set agendas or write laws but we express our values to policy makers. We will and we do. We are real clear about that."
While France did not comment on potentially moving any races from the state or Charlotte Motor Speedway, he joined NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as high-profile sports figures who have condemned the state's recent legislative decisions.
"We've been working very closely with the business community down there and the governor and the legislature to make it clear that it would be problematic for us to move forward with our All-Star Game if there is not a change in the law," Silver said regarding the 2017 All-Star Game, which Charlotte is set to host Feb. 17, during a recent appearance on Mike & Mike, per ESPN.com.
In March, the NFL took a similar stance when it released a statement opposing Georgia's "religious liberty" bill and warned that the law could deprive Atlanta of the chance to host a Super Bowl in the future if enacted. – bleacherreport.com
Were you surprised at NASCAR's response to North Carolina in support of the LGBT community?
Do you think organizations like NASCAR should stay and fight or boycott NC?
h/t : bleacherreport.com
I don’t believe in treating
I don't believe in treating people wrong or to unfairly but people need to use COMMON SENSE . This bill is not to treat people wrong it is a bill to protect women and little girls. Who I figure would matter . All it would take is a sexual deviant pervert man to say that he is a transgender and put on a women's dress go in to a bathroom or women's shower and rape a innocent woman or little girl,but I guess they don't matter it's just collateral damage . I got an Idea how about the NBA, Nascar , Bruce Springsteen , NFL ,and all these others who oppose this bill to put their name down on a contract that if a woman or little girl is raped that all these people will pay 500,000 a piece to take care of their medical costs, the help psycological that they would need and other things medically that they will need to deal with that trama. Let's quit playing politics and put your money where your mouth is . Protect the innocent among us.