Rock legend Bruce Springsteen canceled his Sunday show in Greensboro, citing his opposition to House Bill 2, the controversial new North Carolina law that bars LGBT people from discrimination protections.
In a letter posted Friday afternoon, Springsteen said he opposed the law in part because it does not allow for LGBT people to sue in state courts for workplace discrimination.
“To my mind, it’s an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress,” he wrote.
About 15,000 tickets had been sold for the Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band concert scheduled for the Greensboro Coliseum on Sunday, a venue spokesman said. Refunds will be available at the point of sale.
Also on Friday, University of North Carolina System President Margaret Spellings told reporters in a conference call that she was worried the law may suggest the state is not welcoming to people of all backgrounds. The system will comply, but that “is in no way an endorsement of this law,” Spellings said, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Proponents of the law – including Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and Senate Leader Phil Berger – say the legislation responded to a new Charlotte ordinance that would have allowed transgender people to use public restrooms in line with the gender with which they identify. The law requires people to use public bathrooms corresponding with the sex on their birth certificate.