Disney Threatens to Boycott Georgia Over Anti-Gay Bill

The NBA released a statement tonight criticizing the recently signed North Carolina House Bill 2, and implicitly throwing Charlotte’s hosting of the 2017 NBA All-Star Game into doubt:

“The NBA is dedicated to creating an inclusive environment for all who attend our games and events. We are deeply concerned that this discriminatory law runs counter to our guiding principles of equality and mutual respect and do not yet know what impact it will have on our ability to successfully host the 2017 All-Star Game in Charlotte.”

House Bill 2 is a measure that prevents North Carolina cities from passing anti-LGBT discrimination laws of their own. It was written in response to a recently passed anti-discrimination ordinance in Charlotte that prevents business from discriminating against gay, lesbian, and transgender customers, and among other provisions allows transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender they identify as. Charlotte’s ordinance was scheduled to go into effect April 1, but is now superseded by House Bill 2.

The NBA’s implicit threat to pull the All-Star Game piles more pressure upon the North Carolina legislature to repeal the legislation. The NCAA has said they are monitoring the situation, and large corporations with offices in North Carolina like PayPal, Dow Chemical, Google, and American Airlines have condemned the law

North Carolina's Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper opposes HB2, the bill McCrory called for and signed into law just 12 hours after lawmakers rammed it through the General Assembly in a special session. Cooper, who is challenging McCrory for the governorship, said it best: "The governor lit the match and stood aside, while the fire grew out of control."

As of Thursday afternoon, studios who have released statements either condemning the bill or threatening to boycott the state of Georgia include Disney, Viacom, CBS, Comcast NBC Universal (good lord, what a name), AMC, Discovery, Time Warner, Lions Gate, The Weinstein Company, Starz, and Sony.

So basically, you know, Hollywood.

As you know, Atlanta is often referred to as the Hollywood of the South. During the last fiscal year, at least 248 films and television productions were shot in Georgia, adding at least $1.7 billion in direct spending to the state’s economy

Do The Demographics of NASCAR Hurt of Help?

The average NASCAR fan is almost 2x more likely to be over 45 than under 29.
African-Americans are 27% less likely and Hispanics are 20% less likely to follow the sport when compared to Caucasians.
The average NASCAR fan is twice as likely to live in rural areas of the South or Midwest.
1 in 5 NASCAR fans is likely to support gun laws that are more lenient compared to the rest of the general US population.
1 in 4 NASCAR fans say that their religious beliefs are very important to them.
NASCAR fans are 50% more likely to be registered Republicans than Democrats.

NASCAR has the highest share of Caucasians that watch the sport than any other US sport at 94%.

I agree that they shouldn't blackmail...isn't blackmail illegal?

But it appears what they are doing is taking their business elsewhere.

As far as corporations vs. citizens...bottom line it is about the money. Corporations may be more effective because it is hitting pocket book by a greater amount. My guess that the corporations are acting such because of the money as well. Looking at their customers this boycotting may help them financially. Sometimes corporations do things for moral reasons, but more often than not it is the financial impact.

I'm waiting for NASCAR to say something.....

Same in Italy, unless it's changed there. I'm not completely positive re having the register business done first, but I'm assuming it is the same as you describe.

if it were about disney announcing they won´t continue their business relationship with a country who exploits children you would see it as bad as you see it now. they´re paying for the facilities to the government, taxes, linceses ... Disney is a money maker machine for the government, not the other way around.... as any private company they have the right to decide what´s important when choosing who they want to make business with

The backlash against efforts to weaken anti-discrimination protections for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people took sharp turns on Monday, when Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal announced he will veto a controversial religious freedom bill and activists sued North Carolina's governor over a law that blocked cities from passing their own protections.