NASCAR Chair & CEO Brian France on Thursday "voiced opposition" to the "controversial North Carolina law limiting anti-discrimination protection" for LGBT individuals, according to ESPN.com. France: "We are working, including myself, behind scenes to the extent, again, we're not a political institution, we don't obviously set political agendas and write laws, but to the extent we can express our values to policy makers, in this case North Carolina, we will and we do. We're real clear about that." NASCAR, which is based in Daytona Beach, "has a large office and its Hall of Fame is in Charlotte." France "addressed whether NASCAR would consider removing its business interests from North Carolina." France: "We try to be part of a solution, not part of a bunch of threats, truthfully. But we're very direct about it, and I think we just do our part. We always like to think we take a lot out of the communities that we run our events and do business in. ... We want to play our role but not overstate our role" (ESPN.com, 4/21).
STAR SEARCH: NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Thursday at the Associated Press Sports Editors' commissioner meetings indicated that if the law "remains unchanged," the '17 All-Star Game "would have to be moved from Charlotte." Silver: "We’ve been, I think, crystal clear a change in the law is necessary for us to play in the kind of environment that we think is appropriate for a celebratory NBA event" (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 4/22). USA TODAY's Nancy Armour writes with as popular as basketball is in North Carolina, the NBA "pulling the All-Star Game would be the strongest statement yet that intolerance has no place in today’s world." But by "biding its time now, the league is giving tacit approval to North Carolina’s legalized discrimination." That is "troubling for any of the major sports leagues but particularly so for the NBA, which has become the standard by which everyone else is measured when it comes to issues of equality and tolerance." Armour: "By refusing to take a stand in hopes lawmakers will see the light, or the courts will step in, the NBA is cheapening itself and all the good work it's done in the past" (USA TODAY, 4/22).
