Springsteen cancels show because of North Carolina law

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Bruce Springsteen has canceled his concert in North Carolina, citing the state's new law blocking anti-discrimination rules covering the LGBT community.

In a statement on his website Friday, Springsteen said he was canceling the concert scheduled for Sunday in Greensboro because of the law, which critics say discriminates against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people.

Springsteen says the law "is 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."

Because of that, he said he and the E Street Band must "show solidarity with those freedom fighters."

Later, Springsteen used his Facebook page to urge followers to contact lawmakers, adding a link to find them.

People who bought tickets will get refunds.

-- (c) Associated Press 2016-04-09

Good for him! All business, entertainment venues, sports, travel etc. should be canceled for NC and any state that enacts such hateful, bigoted "laws".

Sing it brothers and sisters...sorry the pun.

Men in dresses in womens bathrooms. That is sick. What are these fruit cakes thinking. They should be banned from NC.

Well done Bruce, pissing off your customers and fans is a brilliant way of making a political statement ......

Well done Bruce, pissing off your customers and fans is a brilliant way of making a political statement ......

Excuse me. How about, 'pissing off some of your customers and fans". Do not overstep, you do not suppose

that all would not support him? I for one, support economic boycotts as a means of showing opposition to

law passed, based on religious beliefs of some, to discriminate. That holds with segregation in the US,

apartheid in South Africa or religious discrimination in Saudi Arabia. However, we are focused here on my country.

Well done Bruce, pissing off your customers and fans is a brilliant way of making a political statement ......

Shrewd businessman….none of these types ever do anything without planning further down the road.

Now whenever he plays in any LGBT friendly state, the crowds will be twice as big.

Well done Bruce, pissing off your customers and fans is a brilliant way of making a political statement ......

Excuse me. How about, 'pissing off some of your customers and fans". Do not overstep, you do not suppose

that all would not support him? I for one, support economic boycotts as a means of showing opposition to

law passed, based on religious beliefs of some, to discriminate. That holds with segregation in the US,

apartheid in South Africa or religious discrimination in Saudi Arabia. However, we are focused here on my country.

please could you point out where it mentions SA or Saudi in the article, if Bruce wants to make political statements then he should run for office. him boycotting the concert will lose the ticket holders money as you don't get 100% refunds anymore plus as he doesn't tour much anymore his loyal fans are missing out on seeing him in concert. I still think the majority will be pissed off rather than supporting him as it's not going to have any effect on the people who passed the legislation, does Bruce think the ticket holders are going to protest on his behalf?

Well done Bruce, pissing off your customers and fans is a brilliant way of making a political statement ......

Shrewd businessman….none of these types ever do anything without planning further down the road.

Now whenever he plays in any LGBT friendly state, the crowds will be twice as big.

my understanding is that all his concerts are sell outs so he can't have bigger crowds unless he plays more nights.

Sing it brothers and sisters...sorry the pun.

Are you discriminating against the third gender?

No loss ..not much of a musician anyway, and the success he had was years ago...a "has been" in the same vein as the Stones, just with less talent

Well done Bruce, pissing off your customers and fans is a brilliant way of making a political statement ......

Excuse me. How about, 'pissing off some of your customers and fans". Do not overstep, you do not suppose

that all would not support him? I for one, support economic boycotts as a means of showing opposition to

law passed, based on religious beliefs of some, to discriminate. That holds with segregation in the US,

apartheid in South Africa or religious discrimination in Saudi Arabia. However, we are focused here on my country.

News flash..there hasn't been apartheid in south Africa for over 20 years, it ended about the same time Springsteen had his last hit

Well done Bruce, pissing off your customers and fans is a brilliant way of making a political statement ......

Given the publicity it's got, it's had the desired effect.

No loss ..not much of a musician anyway, and the success he had was years ago...a "has been" in the same vein as the Stones, just with less talent

Ouch!

This talentless oaf should just get on with shouting down the mic as normal. If he feels so strongly about these causes, he should turn his entire fortune over to them. Just a lefty twit.

This talentless oaf should just get on with shouting down the mic as normal. If he feels so strongly about these causes, he should turn his entire fortune over to them. Just a lefty twit.

Not a fan of The Boss then?

This talentless oaf should just get on with shouting down the mic as normal. If he feels so strongly about these causes, he should turn his entire fortune over to them. Just a lefty twit.

Not a fan of The Boss then?

Boss my aris. Just a big showbiz jessie.

Springsteen's action is just one of many responses to religious bigots http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/06/us/gay-rights-mississippi-north-carolina.html?_r=0

Well done The Boss.

This talentless oaf should just get on with shouting down the mic as normal. If he feels so strongly about these causes, he should turn his entire fortune over to them. Just a lefty twit.

Not a fan of The Boss then?

Boss my aris. Just a big showbiz jessie.

How does one go about bossing your aris?

This talentless oaf should just get on with shouting down the mic as normal. If he feels so strongly about these causes, he should turn his entire fortune over to them. Just a lefty twit.

Not a fan of The Boss then?

The Boss...Naah...Mail room boy is closer

Couldn't this be considered collective punishment for those living in North Carolina who disagree with the law? Though on second thoughts many may consider it collective punishment if he did play.

OK, let's have Springsteen make the restrooms at all of his concerts gender neutral.

And the bathrooms and locker rooms at his kids' schools.

I'm sure that will go well.

OK, let's have Springsteen make the restrooms at all of his concerts gender neutral.

That's not a bad idea, a great statement to make rather than screwing over his fans. If anything goes wrong inside one his lawyers can deal with the lawsuits.

OK, let's have Springsteen make the restrooms at all of his concerts gender neutral.

And the bathrooms and locker rooms at his kids' schools.

I'm sure that will go well.

His youngest child is 22, so unlikely to be at school.

And the homophobic bigots come out of the woodwork. I wonder how you manage to survive in Thailand...lol. Scared of ladyboys are you? How about the gay guy next to you at the urinal? Oh maybe you are scared if the lesbian ladies at the next table. What a bunch of troglodytes, crawl back in your holes bigots.

Do love how many of those who are against gay rights cover their prejudice by attacking Springsteen's musical abilities.... boycott of SA back when also had effects on those against apartheid (the majority of population, I dare say). In spite of ban on international sports, etc, they were smart enough to understand it was important part of larger struggle. Springsteen's fans also smart enough to figure this out, I reckon.

Good for Bruce. Any shade of Biggotry has NO place in any modern society.

Sent from my GT-I9000 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

I like Springsteen's music, but don't consider him one of the greats (Beatle's, Stones, Led Zeppelin), but, like a lot of these guys, I could care less about his political views.

Protesting about prohibiting homosexuals from getting employment or housing is fighting for freedom. Fighting for men having the "right" to use the women's restroom is just plain silly. His fans should respond by boycotting his music and concerts and see how long he keeps it up.

I like Springsteen's music, but don't consider him one of the greats (Beatle's, Stones, Led Zeppelin), but, like a lot of these guys, I could care less about his political views.

Protesting about prohibiting homosexuals from getting employment or housing is fighting for freedom. Fighting for men having the "right" to use the women's restroom is just plain silly. His fans should respond by boycotting his music and concerts and see how long he keeps it up.

Giving you the benefit of the doubt, perhaps you are IGNORANT of the fact that the anti-GLBT North Carolina law is about much more than bathrooms.

You say you care about protecting GLBT against discrimination in housing and employment. So now that you know the truth, perhaps you can see how bad the new N.C. law is. This has already impacted on the major city of CHARLOTTE which had an anti-discrimination law, now null and void thanks to this homophobic republican party right wing victory.

House Bill 2 prohibits cities and towns from enacting measures that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity and bars students attending public institutions from using the bathroom that does not conform to their gender at birth.

http://ontopmag.com/article/22514/Rights_Groups_Challenge_North_Carolinas_Anti_Gay_Law

This is part of the recent anti-GLBT right wing tactic. They fold in explicitly anti civil rights issues that most Americans actually favor with the HOT BUTTON mania issue of bathrooms.

Yes, I'm not naive, this along with the phony "religious freedom" excuse used to rationalize all kinds of anti-gay laws and actions, this is clearly a BACKLASH against the MARRIAGE EQUALITY victory. Historic, but much more to do, and now we're going BACKWARDS.

Actually there should be a NATIONAL law protecting all Americans from basic discrimination but the congress will need to change for that. Perhaps Obama could have gotten that in his first term, but I doubt it.

I happen to agree with you that employment and housing discrimination protection is more important than transgender bathroom access issues, even for transgender people.

Economic pressure does seem to have an impact. A rabidly anti-GLBT law in nearby GEORGIA was recently vetoed by the republican Governor mainly because it would be bad for business. Whatever works. The struggle continues.