The following paragraphs are taken from an article written by Dom Amore for the Hartford Courant:

“The [Connecticut] governor’s ban on state-paid travel to North Carolina does not preclude college sports teams from playing games there.

“In the short term, the ban, which Gov. Dannel P. Malloy issued on March 31 in response to a North Carolina law he said is discriminatory toward the LGBT community, is not applicable to UConn—a member of the American Athletic Conference, which includes East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C.

“The UConn baseball and women’s tennis teams traveled to play at East Carolina in April. The ban provides an exception for pre-existing contractual obligations. . . .

“The North Carolina legislation excludes protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and overturned an ordinance in Charlotte that let transgender people use restrooms of their choice.

Compare Malloy’s statement when he issued the ban–

“’This law is not just wrong, it poses a public safety risk to Connecticut residents traveling through North Carolina,’ Malloy said when he issued the ban.”–

to the statement released by the UConn athletics department—

“’UConn Athletics is fully compliant with the State of Connecticut’s travel ban to North Carolina and Mississippi. The ban includes an exception for contractual commitments that require travel to those states. Because the University has contractual commitments to the American Athletic Conference and its member schools for intercollegiate athletic events, we will honor those commitments.

“’We will continue to support our student-athletes who have dedicated so much of themselves to represent UConn in scheduled athletic competitions.’”

Amore’s complete article is available at: http://www.courant.com/sports/uconn-huskies/hc-uconn-north-carolina-sports-0428-20160427-story.html.