I live in Greensboro. Is this bathroom law stupid? YES. Did the Governor act too quickly and foolishly? YES. Will this law eventually be changed? YES.
WFMY - TV 2 article below.
Interesting observation on Italy: Bruce scheduled to perform in Italy on 3 different dates this summer. Italy is the only Western country that has no formal recognition of any form of same sex unions which is a basic right being fought for by the LGBT community worldwide. Is Bruce going to cancel those dates or is he going to play them?
Interesting observation on Sony: Bruce’s record label-Sony- is owned by a corporation that makes hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from its divisions in the Middle East. Gays not only have no rights in many of these countries, but being gay is a crime and many are murdered or executed. Have we heard a peep from Mr. Springsteen about Sony doing business in those countries? Perhaps being paid tens of millions of dollars from Sony insulates them from any of his criticism.
GREENSBORO, NC – On Sunday afternoon, a digital ad for Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band was still on display on the side of the Greensboro Coliseum Complex. However, the parking lot was empty -- a sad sight for fans of who've been waiting weeks or even months to see “The Boss” in concert. The list of people impacted by Bruce Springsteen's choice to cancel his concert is growing. Non-profit organizations will miss out on selling concessions at the coliseum. Employees are out of a job for the night. The city is missing out on tens of thousands of dollars in hotel room fees and restaurant tabs! Plus, the coliseum is losing a total of $100,000 due to the cancelation. None of those organizations will cash-in because Sunday's concert was called off. The coliseum sold 15,000 tickets for the Bruce Springsteen show and Mayor Nancy Vaughan said 50% of which were from out of town. However, “The Boss” announced on Friday that he was canceling the show because of his beliefs against House Bill 2. Governor Pat McCrory passed House Bill 2, more commonly referred to as the "Bathroom Law," in March. The law states that men and women must use restrooms according to their biological sex. In a statement obtained by WFMY News 2, Springsteen said “It's time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters.” The decision has gained support and opposition both locally and across the country. Some fans are praising the singer’s decision to stand up for something he feels strongly about. Others are criticizing Springsteen for taking a stance that comes at the expense of his fans. On Sunday, WFMY News 2's Ben Powell spoke to one group of guys who flew in just for the concert and are now out thousands of dollars. Mike Prater flew in from Las Vegas to see Bruce Springsteen at the coliseum! “I didn't hear about the cancellation until Saturday morning before I was about to come here. So I had no way to get my hotel money back obviously. No way to get my flight money back,” said Prater. "The whole thing is an economic disaster for me for him to do this." But Prater didn’t come alone. In Greensboro, he met up with his other buddies, Mark Kraft from California, Kevin Doody from Dallas, Texas, and Jeff Segal from Greensboro. The four haven’t seen each other in six years! They specifically planned their college reunion around Sunday’s concert. But instead of seeing “The Boss” live, they spent Sunday night singing Bruce Springsteen’s songs themselves at a karaoke bar in Greensboro! "Bruce, in his statement, says that his loyal fans will understand why he did this,” said Prater. “Well, we are loyal fans Bruce, and we don't understand. We think you have a lot of discrepancies in your position and you didn't bother to think about the people you would be hurting.” Not just out-of-towers are hurt by the decision. Local fans like Mark Shull and Mark Roberts have seen more than 50 concerts combined! They’re two of the biggest Bruce Springsteen fans you'll ever meet! “The thing about Bruce is when he is up on stage, it's like he is looking right at you,” said Roberts. “Until you have experienced a Bruce show live, that's when you get it! You have to go to the show to get it. I will tell you right now, I'm almost 50 and it's an exhausting experience!” They've each got bunches of memorabilia like CDs, autographs, and posters. Shull even had his picture taken with “The Boss” himself back in 2000! “He is such a terrific songwriter. It's like when he's writing a song, he's like inside your head and inside your life,” said Shull. “Before the night is over, he's going to give you every single thing that he has in his body before he leaves that stage.” Of course, they're disappointed about the cancellation of the show but they both say they respect the decision. “I have a belief that no man has any business in the women's restroom or locker room. But there was a lot of stuff tucked into the bill that I think is the problem for Bruce and a lot of other artists and companies,” said Shull. “Whether I agree with what they do or not, I completely respect them for standing their ground on something they feel that strongly about.” "He's not doing the easy thing. He's doing what his conscious tells him. I think unfortunately, it's all about the money. That's the only way you're going to get these people to listen. When I say these people, I mean the people in Raleigh,” said Roberts. "He is more than just a singer. He's making us think. Whether you love him or hate him or disagree with him, he's making us think!" However, the guys who spent thousands of dollars on airfare and hotel reservations aren't so forgiving. They came to the coliseum on the day of the show to take a picture out front as a form of protest! "The whole process comes under the category of the price we pay for political correctness,” said Kraft. “Who pays the price? Not just us but the janitors, the ushers, the people working in local restaurants. Everybody pays the price!" “I think its fine to stand up for your political beliefs but you have to be consistent. He canceled here because he feels the LGBT community is having their rights violated,” said Prater. “Yet, he has three concerts scheduled in Italy, where Italy is the only western country that has no recognition of any type of same-sex unions at all. Is he going to play those or is he going to cancel?” “A lot of people are affected by this,” said Segal. “I think when people make these from the hip decisions, it feels good to do it but I don't think they really appreciate the consequences to the wider community.” “It seems to be an economic calculus rather than a political calculus,” said Doody. “I think it would've been far more beneficial had he come and donated the profits of the concert to the cause he is advocating. He could've used the pulpit of the stage to get attention locally where he feels the law needs to be changed or challenged.” The four even collaborated to write a page-long statement summarizing their thoughts on the cancelation of the show. They plan to send the following statement to national news outlets like the Wall Street Journal: It is with great sadness that we, loyal fans of Bruce Springsteen for 40 years have to write this commentary. We have always appreciated Bruce for expressing his own political views. Even if we didn’t agree with all of them, we never stopped buying his albums, listening to his music or seeing him perform. For us, it was always about the music, the very music that might sometimes change opinions to the side that Bruce was advocating. But for us, the music died on April 10, 2016. A day when our hero, Bruce, disengaged rather than engaged. A day when Bruce sold out for maximum publicity at the expense of some of his most loyal fans. HB2 in North Carolina passed on March 23. The law inflamed passions affecting the LGBT community. Some advocated boycotting the state. Yet it took Bruce 2 weeks to decide not to play the Greensboro venue. His timing needs better explanation. It’s certainly admirable to stand up for one’s beliefs but it is also important to be consistent when doing so. Mr. Springsteen’s statement argues that he is cancelling because the rights of the LGBT community are being violated. Then, why is Bruce scheduled to perform in Italy on 3 different dates this summer. Italy is the only Western country that has no formal recognition of any form of same sex unions which is a basic right being fought for by the LGBT community worldwide. Is Bruce going to cancel those dates or is he going to play them? Furthermore, Bruce’s record label-Sony- is owned by a corporation that makes hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from its divisions in the Middle East. Gays not only have no rights in many of these countries, but being gay is a crime and many are murdered or executed. Have we heard a peep from Mr. Springsteen about Sony doing business in those countries? Perhaps being paid tens of millions of dollars from Sony insulates them from any of his criticism. For the loyal fans who have spent their hard earned money buying airline tickets to Greensboro and reserving hotel rooms and can’t get their money back, the abrupt cancelation strikes a sour note. We learned that Mr. Springsteen canceled his hotel reservations well before announcing his decision to the public so he didn’t suffer the same losses as some of his fans. A better course of action would have been to use the concert as a forum for advocating the LGBT cause. The profits from the concert could have been donated to funding a legal effort to challenge the HB2 law. In this case, it seems national publicity trumped the honoring of commitments. Despite the anger and frustration documented in the above statement, Prater, Kraft, Doody, and Segal all agree that they still love Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. However, when asked if they plan to attend another concert, they said they don't trust Springsteen enough to commit time and money without knowing if the singer will deliver. Meantime, Shull and Roberts say they're planning to go to a Bruce Springsteen concert in Maryland in two weeks with a sign that reads "I'm from Greensboro and I support you."