海角大神

Texas is starting to feel the backlash against a transgender 鈥渂athroom bill鈥� introduced in the state Senate on Thursday.

Rick Riordan, the best-selling author of "Percy Jackson and the Olympians" fantasy novels turned down an invitation to the state legislature this March, citing Senate Bill 6 in a tweet, which would limit transgender people to using just the restroom that matches their 鈥渂iological sex.鈥�

Mr. Riordan is one of the first celebrities to boycott his home state (he was raised in San Antonio, but lives in Massachusetts) over the proposed legislation. But some Texans are concerned names as big as the National Football League and the NCAA could soon follow, mirroring the response North Carolina felt with its 鈥渂athroom bill.鈥�

But the bad press these kinds of boycotts have brought on has been effective in forcing other states besides Texas to reconsider their stances on such controversial LGBT and civil rights issues.

would require transgender people to use bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms in government buildings and public schools and universities based on their 鈥渂iological sex.鈥� The bill would also ban local cities from having transgender bathroom protections in their anti-discrimination ordinances.

The bill would allow schools to accommodate transgender students聽on a case-by-case basis, Republican state senator Lois Kolkhorst, who introduced the bill along with Mr. Patrick, . But 鈥減ublic entities鈥� that violate the law would be subject to a fine, she said.

Conservative lawmakers say the law is about safety: Men, for instance, should not be allowed to use women鈥檚 bathrooms.

鈥淭his issue is not about discrimination 鈥� , protecting businesses and common sense,鈥� said Senator Patrick, in a statement. 鈥淭his legislation codifies what has been common practice in Texas and everywhere else forever 鈥� that men and women should use separate, designated bathrooms.鈥�

But business groups are worried the rest of the country won鈥檛 see it that way. The Texas Association of Businesses, which often sides with conservative lawmakers, came out against the bill because it believes the legislation will .

That鈥檚 what happened in North Carolina, after it passed its own 鈥渂athroom bill,鈥� House Bill 2. According to Forbes estimates in November, North Carolina lost as much as in business since March 2016 because of the controversial legislation.

海角大神鈥檚 Patrik Jonsson detailed the opposition聽in April:

Less than a month after the bill was passed, the Center for American Progress estimates that the state has already put $500 million in corporate investment and tourism dollars in jeopardy.

A growing boycott campaign now involves perhaps as many as 1,000 high-paying jobs lost, including 400 from PayPal canceling a multimillion dollar expansion. The list of canceled concerts and shows 鈥� including Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam, Ringo Starr, and Cirque de Soleil 鈥� so far have cost millions of dollars in lost revenue. Thursday, the National Basketball Association said that the 2017 All-Star Game won鈥檛 be played in Charlotte unless the law is changed.

The NCAA also relocated several tournament games out of the state, largely because of travel bans five states issued against public employees traveling to North Carolina.

Last month, North Carolina lawmakers convened a special legislative session with the intention of repealing the law, but according to The Washington Post.

Such threats to move sporting events are looming over Texas. The Super Bowl, the sporting world鈥檚 largest event, will likely remain in Houston in February. But the NCAA 鈥渞ecently began current and prospective host cities, asking them to 鈥榮pecifically outline how they will protect participants and spectators from discrimination鈥� including details on how they would mitigate an local discriminatory laws or rules that permit the refusal of services to members of any group,鈥� The New York Times reported.

Similar actions were effective in swaying states to reconsider controversial legislation in the past. In 1990, the NFL voted to hold the 1993 Super Bowl in Arizona, but moved it to Pasadena, Calif., when Arizona refused to recognize Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a holiday. In 1992, Arizona recognized the law and the state has hosted several Super Bowls since.

After Indiana passed a controversial religious liberty bill two years ago, the state lost $60 million in convention businesses before lawmakers watered down the law. Georgia's Republican governor Nathan Deal also cited corporate investment in vetoing what he called a 鈥渄iscriminatory鈥� religious liberty bill last year.聽