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NCAA Explains Why It’s Moving 7 Championships From North Carolina

The NCAA joins the NBA and others in pulling events from the state

After North Carolina passed the first statewide law to ban using a restroom different from the gender on one’s birth certificate, musicians, filmmakers, artists, and local governments across the country responded with boycotts and travel bans. On Monday, the National Collegiate Athletics Association announced its own sanctions: All seven NCAA championship events scheduled this year in North Carolina will be relocated.

“The NCAA Board of Governors made this decision because of the cumulative actions taken by the state concerning civil rights protections,” the association wrote on Monday. North Carolina’s laws, the NCAA said, “make it challenging to guarantee” an “inclusive atmosphere” for athletes, coaches, administrators, and fans.

North Carolina passed the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, commonly known as HB2, in March. The National Basketball Association responded in June by pulling the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte. “We do not believe we can successfully host our All-Star festivities in Charlotte in the climate created by HB2,” the league said at the time.

These are the seven NCAA championships affected:

  • 2016 Division I Women’s Soccer Championship (Cary)
  • 2016 Division III Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships (Greensboro)
  • 2017 Division I Men’s Basketball Championship, first/second rounds (Greensboro)
  • 2017 Division I Women’s Golf Championships, regional (Greenville)
  • 2017 Division III Men’s and Women’s Tennis Championships (Cary)
  • 2017 Division I Women’s Lacrosse Championship (Cary)
  • 2017 Division II Baseball Championship (Cary)

In response to the announcement, the North Carolina Republican Party issued a truly mystifying statement claiming the NCAA wants to destroy women’s sports by creating “unisex teams.”