Ringo Starr Latest To Cancel North Carolina Concert Over Transgender Bathroom Law
CARY, N.C. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Ringo Starr on Wednesday became the latest performer to cancel a show in North Carolina because of the new state law pertaining to transgender people and restrooms.
In a news release, the onetime Beatles drummer said he was joining with Bruce Springsteen and other artists as he called off an All Starr Tour show that had been planned for June 18 at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, North Carolina over the law, known as HB2.
"I'm sorry to disappoint my fans in the area, but we need to take a stand against this hatred," Starr said in the release. "Spread peace and love."
Starr's release said the law "opens the door to discrimination everywhere."
"How sad that they feel that this group of people cannot be defended," he said in the release.
The bill signed by North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory last month invalidates an order in the city of Charlotte allowing transgender people to use restrooms aligned with their gender identity.
The law also requires transgender people to use restrooms corresponding to their biological sex.
The North Carolina law further bars local governments statewide from prohibiting discrimination in public places based on sexual orientation and gender identity. A new statewide nondiscrimination law doesn't contain those specific protections.
In announcing the cancellation of his concert, Starr asked his fans to support organizations fighting to overturn the law.
"As Canned Heat sang, 'Let's work together.' And The Beatles said, 'All you need is love,'" Starr's release said.
Because of the same law, Springsteen this past Friday announced the cancellation of a concert that had been planned for last Sunday at the Greensboro Coliseum.
"Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them," Springsteen wrote Friday. "It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards."
McCrory signed North Carolina legislation saying it was "passed by a bipartisan majority to stop this breach of basic privacy and etiquette."
The law directs all public schools, government agencies and public college campuses to require bathrooms or locker rooms be designated for use only by people based on their biological sex. They can offer single-occupancy facilities.
Transgender people who have transitioned to the opposite sex wouldn't be affected if they get their birth certificate changed, CBS News explained.
The new law would also make clear local governments can't require area businesses to pay workers above the current minimum wage, with some exceptions. McCrory said that although items beyond the bathroom-related provisions in the legislation should have waited until later this spring for debate, he signed it anyway because it doesn't change existing rights under state or federal law.
In response to the North Carolina bill, both New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy have issued bans on non-essential state travel to North Carolina.
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