There are some half-baked ideas on Reddit sometimes. It is not always the best place to go for reasoned discussion of anything. Through the noise though, some ideas emerge that gain some currency and begin building a following and support.
This one certainly could pick up some support.
A Reddit user has suggested the NBA move the All-Star Game from Charlotte, N.C., a state where there is a controversial anti-LGBTQ law that was recently passed, to Orlando as a sign of solidarity with the victims lost at Orlando’s gay night club, Pulse.
ESPN’s Jalen and Jacoby picked the story up:
The fight for LGBTQ equality throughout the nation is still raging. There are some major flash points still occurring. Even though the Supreme Court made a decision essentially requiring all states to recognize marriage equality, there is still a fight to preserve and maintain those rights. Not to mention the fight to specifically prohibit LGBTQ discrimination illegal.
These issues have come into more focus in the wake of Sunday morning’s mass shooting at Pulse night club, a popular gay bar near Downtown Orlando. Many believe the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric tacitly promoted by society and through legislation created an environment an attack like this could have occurred.
There have long been activists fighting the NBA to move its All-Star Game in February 2017 from Charlotte after North Carolina passed a law specifically preventing cities from passing their own LGBTQ discrimination protections including laws that would protect transgender men and women from using bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.
The law has been hailed as discriminatory against LGBTQ individuals. The pressure and outrage over this law has caused plenty to say the NBA should leave Charlotte for the All-Star Game in 2017. And the league has made strong statements against the law in North Carolina, but no threat or decision to move the event.
This is where Reddit came in. The idea has begun to spread around for the league to move the All-Star Game from Charlotte to Orlando as a way to honor those lost in Sunday’s tragic shooting and as a statement in favor of LGBTQ rights.
It is a very nice concept. Certainly a heartfelt one.
There are definitely some limitations though that need to be considered.
Orlando’s major thoroughfare is currently undergoing a massive reconstruction. It would be very difficult to host a major event with this kind of impediment with the city’s infrastructure.
The gesture is certainly appreciated though. Orlando almost certainly will get back into the All-Star Game rotation in the very near future once the Orlando Magic’s entertainment complex is completed and once the I-4 reconstruction is finished.
And this is not to mention the very tortured and difficult history the DeVos family has had with the LGBTQ community. A history that has included large donations to the National Organization for Marriage, which has donated and campaigned aggressively against marriage equality.
Magic owner Rich DeVos has consistently come under fire for his statements on the LGBTQ community as a member of President Ronald Reagan’s task force studying the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. He has consistently held a religious conviction of a traditional marriage.
That is not to say the Magic organization has held those same beliefs. They have been an inclusive and welcoming part of the community.
The likelihood this idea would take place is very very small, to say the least. But the notion is certainly welcomed and appreciated.
