Roger Goodell supports fight against North Carolina bathroom bill

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell added his voice to those opposing the controversial “bathroom bill” in North Carolina at the owners meetings on Tuesday.

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NFL commissioner Roger Goodell added his voice to those opposing the controversial North Carolina “bathroom bill” at the owners meetings in Charlotte on Tuesday.

The bill, HB2, prevents transgender people from using the bathroom in accordance with their gender identity and superseded other local ordinances that sought to protect the LGBTQ community.

Goodell said he spoke to Mayor Jennifer Roberts on Monday and that the league stands opposed to any form of discrimination.

“We have been very open and honest and direct about this,” Goodell said, according to ESPN. “We have our policies that do not support in any way discrimination. It’s very important for us to have diversity. We’ve made that clear publicly. We've made that clear in other situations.

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“We made a commitment here a long time ago [with the Carolina Panthers]. The city of Charlotte has continued to fight this issue. We support those efforts. Anything that discriminates is something we oppose, and we will continue to fight that.”

Goodell added that the league did not plan to threaten to pull the Panthers from the state, but that he hoped they could work together to make changes to the measure.

The Panthers and the San Francisco 49ers have also both been vocal in their opposition to the bill.