The ACC made it clear this week that it wants no part of the state of North Carolina’s controversial “bathroom bill.” In comments made Thursday at the end of the conference’s spring meetings at Amelia Island, Fla., commissioner John Swofford suggested that if the law, which prevents transgender people from using bathrooms corresponding to the gender with which they identify, is not repealed, future ACC championships could be withheld from the state where the league is headquartered and four charter members are located.
“I think a lot of us are dealing with something we’ve never dealt with before,” Swofford said of North Carolina’s House Bill 2, or HB2. “It could (affect sites of future championships). We’ll have to see what the end point is, what’s the end result of all of this. I’m sure the conference will revisit that.”
The state law has kicked up controversy similar to Georgia’s “religious liberty” bill that was criticized by gay rights groups and business leaders before it was vetoed by Gov. Nathan Deal.
For events already scheduled within the state, Swofford said that if host venues and cities provide “a statement of fairness and non-discrimination in every respect, and assure that our student-athletes and fans and everybody associated with the event will be treated in a non-discriminatory way, we will maintain the commitments that we have.”
It’s similar to a policy recently adopted by the NCAA for its events.
Charlotte, which has hosted the ACC football championship since 2010 and is scheduled to keep it through 2019, indicated it will have no problems complying.
“Charlotte is committed to those values and has been and will continue to be,” said Gregg Watkins, spokesman for Charlotte mayor Jennifer Roberts.
Bank of America Stadium, site of the title game, is owned by the Carolina Panthers.
“We are aware of the statement from the Atlantic Coast Conference and support the commitment to equality and inclusion,” Panthers spokesman Steven Drummond said. “As we stated last summer, after 20 years of operations, we undoubtedly have had transgender persons attend events here and, presumably, they have used the restroom of the gender with which they identify. Our organization is against discrimination and has a long history of treating all of our patrons at Bank of America Stadium with dignity and respect.”
In a letter to NCAA president Mark Emmert last month, Greensboro Mayor Nancy Vaughan sought to distance her city from the law, writing to “personally assure you that the City of Greensboro is a progressive, open-minded community with long-standing tradition of support for members of the LGBT community.”
Several ACC championship events are scheduled to be held in North Carolina besides the football title game. The women’s basketball tournament will be held in Greensboro through 2022, the swimming championship will also be held there 2017-2022 and the baseball tournament will be held in Durham later this month.
Atlanta and surrounding areas have hosted ACC championship events in the past, including six men’s basketball tournaments and the men’s lacrosse tournament recently at Kennesaw State. While Swofford’s comments left room for ACC events to remain in North Carolina pending the future of HB2, Atlanta could be a potential landing spot.
Atlanta Sports Council executive director Dan Corso declined to comment. Atlanta and Georgia do not have any future ACC championship events scheduled. The men’s basketball tournament is contracted out through 2020 with stops in Brooklyn, N.Y. (2017-18), Charlotte (2019) and Greensboro (2020).
“Ultimately, we’re not going to take championships anywhere where we can’t be assured (non-discriminatory practice) is respected, and that people coming to our events are respected and treated fairly and treated well,” Swofford said. “That’s absolutely critical to this conference.”
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