ACLU requests documents to clarify LGBTQ protections at NCAA events in North Carolina

The American Civil Liberties Union is seeking documents from North Carolina cities and universities to better understand how potential NCAA venues plan to guarantee a nondiscriminatory environment for LGBTQ people at NCAA events, the group announced Friday.

The NCAA announced this week that it will consider venues in North Carolina for NCAA championship sites in response to the passage of state House Bill 142, a partial repeal of the original HB2 “bathroom bill.” Last September, the NCAA announced that it would be pulling its championship events from the state, which included the men’s and women’s basketball NCAA Tournaments this past March.

When reinstating North Carolina venues for eligibility, the NCAA said the potential in-state venues had to show they could prevent discrimination.

“If we find that our expectations of a discrimination-free environment are not met, we will not hesitate to take necessary action at any time,” the NCAA said in a statement last week.

The HB2 replacement bill, however, still leaves LGBTQ people, particularly transgender people, subject to discrimination, the ACLU said. Many LGBTQ advocates, as Vox explains, were upset that HB142 didn’t fully repeal HB2, and prohibits local governments from passing nondiscrimination laws until December 1, 2020.

“As a trans person and as a sports fan, it was deeply concerning to me that we are acting as if something has actually changed in North Carolina,” Chase Strangio, a staff attorney for the ACLU, said Friday via teleconference.

“We know that the discrimination is very much persisting. I’m hopeful we can expose the hypocrisies here and continue to hold the state of North Carolina and the NCAA accountable to its constituents.”

The NCAA said that any potential host site in North Carolina is required to submit additional documentation to demonstrate how student-athletes and spectators are protected from any discrimination.

In response, the ACLU filed public records requests late Thursday to the cities of Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Cary, and Greenville, and to 11 public universities: Appalachian State, East Carolina, North Carolina A&T, North Carolina Central, North Carolina State, UNC-Asheville, UNC-Chapel Hill, UNC-Charlotte, UNC-Greensboro, UNC-Wilmington, and Western Carolina University were all served.

The ACLU is requesting information regarding applications to host NCAA championship events from any of the aforementioned universities. Strangio said that the union is seeking assurance that sites have locker rooms and restrooms that accord with the gender with which individuals identify. He added that the union is also seeking current or former complaints of discrimination related to any environment offered as a host site. Strangio promised to make the information public when it is obtained.

James Esseks, the director of the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, said that the records requests were made because the union believes that the LGBTQ community deserves clarity and guarantees of nondiscriminatory environments after the passage of HB142.

“Transparency is essential given that the backroom deals around HB 142 have only resulted in a status quo that continues to subject trans student-athletes, coaches, and fans to discrimination,” he said.

Under HB142, state or local government buildings and schools throughout North Carolina are not allowed to enact any policies that prevent individuals from using facilities matching their gender identity. The ACLU said that without these protections, transgender people may not feel safe going to school, work, sporting events, or other public events.

Sarah Gillooly, the ACLU of North Carolina’s policy director, said the organization’s document request is intended to hold the NCAA accountable.

“The NCAA must stand by its word and demand documentation of basic nondiscrimination policies and protections before further committing to any North Carolina sites,” Gillooly said.

Gillooly also criticized the repeal bill, saying that HB142 leaves intact many harmful provisions for trans people and perpetuates the “dangerous lies” that trans people are a threat to safety and privacy.

“North Carolina cities and public universities simply cannot guarantee that LGBT people will be legally protected from discrimination,” Gillooly said. The ACLU’s concerns, Gillooly said, are more pressing after the NBA and other entities also left North Carolina.

The ACLU has also taken the state of North Carolina to court over the two bills.

After the NCAA ended its short moratorium on championship events in North Carolina, 166 current and former college athletes sent the NCAA’s Board of Governor’s a letter, obtained by Outsports, asking them to pull events from the state.

The student effort was led by Chris Mosier, the first transgender athlete to compete for Team USA. He and the other athletes asked the NCAA to not make the safety of the LGBTQ athletic community an afterthought. On Friday, he said that, as a transgender athlete, bills like HB142 put him at risk for discrimination, harassment, and exclusion.

“So, I can represent my country internationally, but i’m not safe to participate here,” Mosier said.

The NCAA currently avoids locations that have become, or harbor, symbols of intolerance or discrimination. The NCAA does not permit pre-determined events for states that fly the Confederate flag, or for schools with mascots that are hostile, offensive, or abusive to Native Americans.

Mosier said HB142 is a direct barrier to the inclusion and well-being of LGBTQ athletes, adding that he believes that North Carolina and the NCAA are authorizing discrimination.

“By rewarding North Carolina by returning to the state the message has been sent that transgender people are not worthy of protection, that we should exist in fear,” Mosier said. “It’s about more than profit, it’s about more than just championship events, this is about the safety and inclusion of all people which the NCAA says it stands for.”