Greg Abbott, the Republican governor of Texas, is supporting a “bathroom bill” that would tackle the non-existent problem of men attacking women in bathrooms by keeping transgender people from using the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity in public buildings.
The bill would force people like this guy to use women’s bathrooms.
After North Carolina passed a similar law, the state lost more than $600 million in business from boycotts and governor Pat McCrory was voted out of office. That extended to the sports world. The National Collegiate Athletic Association moved its championship events out of the state, citing possible discrimination of its athletes, and the NBA moved removed its All-Star Game.
The NFL has warned Texas that a law that legalizes discrimination would hurt the state’s efforts to host future Super Bowls. It’s likely the NCAA and NBA would do the same. That would be a big blow for a state that hosts a number of top sporting events.
Abbott has a message for the NFL: STICK TO SPORTS!
“The NFL is walking on thin ice right here,” he told Glenn Beck. “The NFL needs to concentrate on playing football and get the heck out of politics.”
That’s right, Abbott actually used that infamous Twitter egg complaint. He then went on to say “we don’t care what the NFL thinks,” while talking about it for several minutes to show just how little he cares. He also complained about how the NFL does its business, fuming that the league allowed Colin Kaepernick to take a knee during the national anthem. The personal freedom to do that, says this small government conservative, is bad.
Ultimately, the NFL holds the upper hand here. The league is a business first, and it is allowed to make the decisions that it thinks present its business in the best light. People will still watch the NFL regardless of whether the Super Bowl is hosted again in Texas. Meanwhile, Abbott faces the possibility of being ousted like McCrory was if the state goes through with this bill and loses hundreds of millions of dollars.
Then again, history tells us that when someone yells “STICK TO SPORTS,” they aren’t very interested in discussing substance.
