The NCAA announced on Monday that all NCAA events, including NCAA tournament games, were being moved out of North Carolina due to North Carolina’s HB2 law that discriminates against transgender people. This comes on the heels of the NBA moving the All-Star game out of Charlotte earlier this year due to the same law.
North Carolina Republican Party Spokeswoman Kami Mueller had a strong reaction to the decision, in which she stated that the NCAA should be more concerned about rapes occurring at Baylor University, than North Carolina’s discriminatory law.
Here is her full statement via Andrew Carter of the Charlotte Observer:
"I wish the NCAA was this concerned about the women who were raped at Baylor."
–The N.C. Republican Party pic.twitter.com/6lADUI4KCF— Andrew Carter (@_andrewcarter) September 13, 2016
This response is not surprising as North Carolina has dug in their heels deep on this issue and is apparently wiling to lose millions of dollars in lost revenue rather than repeal HB2. However, to point to incidents with a particular school as a way to deflect blame for a law that discriminates against a group of people, is very immature at the very least. Once again, members of the GOP are squarely focused on the method of protest, instead of the message behind it.