Sports gear giant Nike is reportedly joining a group of 68 major U.S. companies attempting to block North Carolina’s controversial transgender bathroom law.
The law, House Bill 2, requires transgender people to use bathrooms marked with their gender, rather than the gender they associate with — something that has stirred up plenty of discussion on both sides of the issue.
This group of companies attempting to strike down the bill filed a friend-of-the-court brief at the federal court in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
“H.B. 2 and the naked, invidious discrimination it condones is already damaging [companies’] ability to recruit and retain a diverse workforce and is imposing a substantial disincentive to investment and commerce in the state, directly impacting their bottom line,” the brief reads, per Reuters.
The NBA and other major sports leagues have spoken out against the law. The NBA is considering moving its 2017 All-Star Game away from Charlotte if the law is still in effect at that time, and outspoken analyst Charles Barkley has been staunchly supportive of such a measure (more here).
Nike hasn’t been shy about contesting anything opposing the LBGT community in the past, either. The company famously cut ties with boxer Manny Pacquiao over homophobic comments he made earlier this year.