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NCAA Pullout Over Transgender Bathroom Law Could Cost North Carolina Millions

The athletics organization pulled all 7 events scheduled for North Carolina this year because of the state's controversial House Bill 2

The NCAA is only the latest organization to announce it’s pulling scheduled events out of North Carolina over House Bill 2. But in a state where college athletics are particularly revered, some wonder if losing this year's NCAA championship events will convince state officials to reconsider the controversial state law, NBC News reports. 

HB2 mandates that people in government buildings only use restrooms that correspond to the sex on their birth certificates. The state's Republican legislators and Gov. Pat McCrory fought hard for the law, but it's been criticized as discriminatory toward the LGBT community.

In the last 65 years, North Carolina has hosted more men's basketball tournament games than any other, and the NCAA's move could put more pressure on state lawmakers to repeal HB2 than ever before.

"I think [the NCAA's decision] is going to get a lot of people speaking about HB2 and realizing that nationwide revulsion against this law is not going away anytime soon," said University of Richmond professor Thad Williamson, who wrote "More Than a Game: Why North Carolina Basketball Means So Much to So Many."

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