|
The cancellations make the bands the latest entertainment
acts to take a stance against the measure, known as House Bill
2.
"The HB2 law that was recently passed is a despicable piece of
legislation that encourages discrimination against an entire
group of American citizens," Pearl Jam, a pioneering grunge rock
group, said in a handwritten statement posted on its Facebook
page.
Pearl Jam had a Wednesday concert scheduled in Raleigh, the
state capital. Boston, which had its greatest success in the
1970s and 1980s, had been set for three shows next month in the
state.
North Carolina last month became the first state to require
transgender people to use restrooms and locker rooms in schools
and other public facilities that correspond with their birth
gender instead of the gender with which they identify.
Former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, rocker Bruce Springsteen and
performance group Cirque du Soleil have canceled North Carolina
shows to protest the law. More than 160 business executives have
signed a Human Rights Campaign letter pushing for it to be
repealed.
In Tennessee, a similar measure in the state legislature was
pulled on Monday by its sponsor in the House of Representatives,
Republican Susan Lynn, for further study, the Tennessean
newspaper reported.
Lynn said controversy over the legislation, which has drawn
threats by some companies to withhold business from the state,
was not a factor in her decision, the Tennessean reported. She
was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Ian Simpson; Editing by Grant McCool and Jonathan
Oatis)
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2016 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
|
