University of North Carolina Pleads with NCAA to Return Championships Despite Anti-LGBT State Law

The University of North Carolina has written NCAA Commissioner Mark Emmert requesting that seven sport championships return to the state.

The games were canceled and relocated because of a state law, HB2, that prevents transgender and gender-nonconforming people from using restrooms and changing rooms matching their gender identity.

UNC President Margaret Spellings emphasized that the university does not discriminate on the basis on sexual orientation or gender identity, and that the university had been fighting the recent anti-LGBT law in court.

"While still caught in the middle of a dispute between state law and federal guidance that it did not create, the UNC system has consistently said that it is not enforcing House Bill 2," Spellings said.

The UNC president also said that the decision to remove the games will only harm local communities and students.

"The NCAA's decision to remove these events from North Carolina deprives multiple communities of important events and the opportunity to support these students," Spellings said. "And most unfairly, the students and our campus communities did nothing to deserve this severe penalty."

The NBA and ACC have also removed important games from North Carolina because of the law.