Yahoo – AFP, Shaun Tandon, April 9, 2016
New York (AFP) - Bruce Springsteen canceled a concert in North Carolina to protest a law that targets transgender people, vowing to fight against "those who continue to push us backwards."
Bruce Springsteen said he canceled a concert in North Carolina to protest a law that targets transgender people, as "some things are more important than a rock show" (AFP Photo/Jamie McCarthy) |
New York (AFP) - Bruce Springsteen canceled a concert in North Carolina to protest a law that targets transgender people, vowing to fight against "those who continue to push us backwards."
Springsteen's
move marks one of the highest-profile actions yet against the law, which
prohibits local governments within the southern state from acting to stop
discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender people in public
facilities and restrooms.
"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," the rock legend said in a statement.
North
Carolina's Republican governor,
Pat McCrory (C), signed the law that
targets
transgender people last month
after its passage by the state legislature
(AFP
Photo/Davis Turner)
|
"It is
the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who
continue to push us backwards instead of forwards."
Springsteen
had been due to perform Sunday in Greensboro, North Carolina as part of a
sold-out arena tour revisiting his classic 1980 album "The River."
Springsteen,
66, rose to fame with his tales of the struggles of working-class America and
his intense marathon concerts.
He has
become increasingly open about his political beliefs in the past decade,
campaigning for President Barack Obama and other Democrats.
In his
statement, "The Boss" saluted activists and business leaders who have
spoken out against North Carolina's law.
Notably,
online payment giant PayPal scrapped a $3.6 million investment in North
Carolina and the National Basketball Association has warned that it may pull
next year's All-Star Game from the state.
The
governors of New York and Washington and a number of other local leaders have
banned non-essential travel by officials to North Carolina.
North
Carolina's Republican governor, Pat McCrory, signed the law last month after
its passage by the state legislature in response to a non-discrimination
ordinance approved by Charlotte, the largest city in the state.
Spreading
of laws in South
A
Republican congressman from North Carolina, Mark Walker, told The Hollywood
Reporter that other artists were coming to the state including Justin Bieber
and Def Leppard.
Saying he
might go to the Bieber concert in solidarity, Walker accused Springsteen of a
"bully tactic."
"It's
like when a kid gets upset and says he's going to take his ball and go
home," he said.
The law,
known as HB2, requires that transgender people use the restroom corresponding
to the sex on their birth certificate.
Another
southern state, Mississippi, has followed suit with a measure that allows
officials and businesses to deny services to gay people or refuse to employ
them if they feel it would violate their religious beliefs.
Steven Van
Zandt, a member of Springsteen's E Street Band, said the artists wanted to
prevent such laws from spreading, even though it was a "tough
decision" to disappoint fans.
"This
really vile and evil discrimination is starting to spread state to state and we
thought we better take a stand right now and catch it early and maybe try to
stop it or at least set some kind of example for others," Van Zandt told
reporters at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in New York.
"It's
unfortunately the only way people understand -- you have to hurt them
economically in order to have them do the right thing morally," said Van
Zandt, who led an artist campaign against apartheid in South Africa.
Van Zandt
was taking part in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ceremony to present a
lifetime achievement award to late producer and songwriter Bert Berns.
Related Article:
"The Akashic Circle" – Jul 17, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: Religion, The Humanization of God, Benevolent Design, DNA, Akashic Circle, (Old) Souls, Gaia, Indigenous People, Talents, Reincarnation, Genders, Gender Switches, In “between” Gender Change, Gender Confusion, Shift of Human Consciousness, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)
“… Gender Switching
Old souls, let me tell you something. If you are old enough, and many of you are, you have been everything. Do you hear me? All of you. You have been both genders. All of you have been what I will call between genders, and that means that all of you have had gender switches. Do you know what happens when it's time for you to switch a gender? We have discussed it before. You'll have dozens of lifetimes as the same gender. You're used to it. It's comfortable. You cannot conceive of being anything else, yet now it's time to change. It takes approximately three lifetimes for you to get used to it, and in those three lifetimes, you will have what I call "gender confusion."
It isn't confusion at all. It's absolutely normal, yet society often will see it as abnormal. I'm sitting here telling you you've all been through it. All of you. That's what old souls do. It's part of the system. …”
It isn't confusion at all. It's absolutely normal, yet society often will see it as abnormal. I'm sitting here telling you you've all been through it. All of you. That's what old souls do. It's part of the system. …”
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