POSTED BY MARTIN KICH

Here are several of the opening paragraphs of an article written by Des Bieler for the Washington Post:

“he NCAA announced Monday that it was moving its slate of 2016-17 championship events set to be played in North Carolina out of that state. The college sports governing body made its decision in reaction to the so-called ‘bathroom bill,’ a much-publicized piece of legislation aimed at the LGBT community, passed there earlier this year.

“In a news release, the NCAA outlined four reasons why it found North Carolina, as opposed to other states, to be an unacceptable site:

“–Its state-level laws “invalidate any local law that treats sexual orientation as a protected class or has a purpose to prevent discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender individuals.”

“–It has ‘the only statewide law that makes it unlawful to use a restroom different from the gender on one’s birth certificate, regardless of gender identity.’

“–North Carolina “provides legal protections for government officials to refuse services to the LGBT community.”

“–The states of New York, Minnesota, Washington, Vermont and Connecticut, plus several municipalities, ‘prohibit travel to North Carolina for public employees and representatives of public institutions, which could include student-athletes and campus athletics staff.’ . . .

“In all, seven championship events will be relocated, including first- and second-round games for the Division I men’s basketball tournament, scheduled to be held in Greensboro. Other events include Division I women’s soccer (Cary), Division I women’s lacrosse (Cary), Division III men’s and women’s soccer (Greensboro), Division III men’s and women’s tennis (Cary), Division II baseball (Cary) and regionals for Division I women’s golf (Greenville).”

Des Bieler’s complete article is available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2016/09/12/ncaa-to-move-2016-17-championship-events-out-of-north-carolina/?wpisrc=al_alert-sports.