What will the NCAA do about North Carolina's 'compromise' to HB2?

The North Carolina House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal the state's controversial bathroom law, House Bill 2 — with a 70-48 vote — on Thursday, after senators approved the bill earlier in the day. It was announced Wednesday night that Gov. Roy Cooper and the GOP-controlled legislature finally reached an agreement to repeal the bill following marathon negotiating this week and months of failed attempts. HB2 will be replaced by House Bill 142, which has been deemed a "compromise" by its authors yet still deemed discriminatory by LGBT and human rights organizations. Gov. Cooper signed the bill Thursday.

The move comes in direct response to increased pressure by the NCAA to repeal HB2, which required transgender people to use bathrooms based on their birth certificate and not by the gender in which they identify. The NCAA, which is in the process of selecting host cities for its championships for 2018-2022, issued a March 23 statement that essentially warned the state that it had until March 30 to repeal the law or it won’t be considered for the 133 bids submitted to the NCAA by North Carolina cities, colleges and universities over that five-year span.

The NCAA already relocated all seven of its championship events in 2017 as a result of HB2, which goes against its initiative for inclusion. The North Carolina Sports Association previously sent a letter to the state's legislature estimating a loss of $250 million in economic impact on top of the millions already lost from the relocation of NCAA events in 2017 as well as the NBA’s All-Star game. And a study by the Associated Press estimated that the state would lose $3.76 billion over a dozen years.

But it's unclear whether the proposed changes in House Bill 142 would be enough to sway the NCAA, as LGBT activists vehemently blasted the bill, which exempts schools from state bathroom regulations but keeps in place the ban for anti-discrimination laws until December 2020. The NAACP called the bill "anti-LGBT" and "an insult to civil rights." And Equality NC tabbed it "HB2.0."

NCAA President Mark Emmert said on Thursday evening at a Final Four news conference that the NCAA's board of governors have to determine over the course of the next few days whether the bill "was sufficient change in the law" and added that the NCAA "doesn’t consider itself an entity that has any business telling a state what their laws should be."

"I’m personally very pleased they have a bill to debate and discuss," said Emmert, who anticipates a decision by early next week.

Echoing the NCAA's stance, ACC commissioner John Swofford said the recently passed legislation creates an opportunity to "reopen the discussion with the ACC Council of Presidents regarding neutral site conference championships in North Carolina" and said the discussion "will take place in the near future."

Based on what the NCAA's board of governors outlined in September (see four guidelines below) when it decided to relocate championship events from North Carolina, HB142 does not appear to meet the association's requirements on discriminatory measures.

Shane Windmeyer, executive director for the LGBT rights group Campus Pride, strongly denounced HB142 and his organization has created an online petition addressed to Emmert and the NCAA asking them to protect the LGBT community.

"Nobody should be fooled by this compromise bill to repeal HB2. It does nothing but reinforce discrimination toward LGBT people, particularly transgender people," Windmeyer said. "We call on the NCAA, ACC, and other businesses and corporations to only stand for a full repeal of HB2. Discrimination is wrong, and a compromise that still sanctions discrimination does not make it right."

Chris Mosier, the first openly trans athlete to make a U.S. National Team, told USA TODAY Sports "the verdict is in" and North Carolina's policies remain "discriminatory against a segment of the NCAA athletic population."

“In terms of the NCAA, NBA and other organizations, this shouldn’t be about how much this could cost (North Carolina)," said Mosier a triathlete and vice president for You Can Play. "It’s about people’s lives. This is about whether I, as a trans person, feel safe and comfortable in that state. Think about the student athletes and those trans folks who have to exist in North Carolina on a daily basis. This about safety, and treating people equally and with respect. That is the bigger issues versus how much money they’ll lose if they can’t host a tournament, a game or whatever else.”

Hudson Taylor, the executive director of Athlete Ally — an LGBT organization dedicated to defeating homophobia and transphobia through sports — viewed the compromised HB142 as more of a PR stunt and said the bill was the equivalent of legislatures "punting the ball" until 2020.

“This HB2 replacement is still an anti-LGBT piece of legislation and does not change the fact that North Carolina is not a state that can provide a safe, healthy, and discrimination-free environment for sporting events they host,” Taylor said. “The NCAA gave North Carolina an opportunity to undo the damage of HB2 and they failed to do so. (HB142) shows that North Carolina continues to lack the support of LGBT athletes and attendees necessary to host major sporting events.”

Taylor said that how the NCAA responds to North Carolina's bill could hold weight for states such as Texas with similar pending legislation and have ripple effects around the country. Texas’ Senate Bill 6, similarly criticized by LGBT activists as discriminatory like North Carolina’s bathroom bill, requires bathroom usage according to individual’s “biological sex.” SB6 passed by committee on the Texas Senate floor and was sent to the Senate.

The difference between the two bills is that SB6 has a workaround clause that would allow organizations like the NCAA or NFL — Super Bowl LI was in Houston — to lease stadiums and enforce their own inclusive bathroom rules. More than 50 collegiate and professional athletes signed an open letter to the NCAA criticizing SB6. The Women's Final Four is in Dallas this weekend, and the Men's Final Four is slated for San Antonio next year.

"I don't know that we should presuppose where Texas is going," Emmert said at the Final Four news conference. "We'll wait and see where it goes."

Contributing: A.J. Perez 

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