Live
Audio Only
Musician Bruce Springsteen, known for his progressive political stances, canceled on Friday a weekend concert in North Carolina to protest a new state law barring transgender people from choosing bathrooms consistent with their gender identity.
"Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry — which is happening as I write — is one of them," he said in an online statement.
Springsteen's lyrics often mix working-class imagery and social justice themes. He publicly supported a measure to legalize gay marriage in his home state of New Jersey, and has long weighed in on other political issues.
Related: Mississippi Introduces Religious Law Restricting Gay Marriage
The musician also called on his fans to voice their opposition of discriminatory legislation and contact their local representatives.
The cancellation comes as more than a dozen U.S. states consider legislation seen as discriminatory to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) rights.
The U.S. South has been the epicenter of a backlash to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year that legalized same-sex marriage, a coincidence not lost on Springsteen.
“To my mind, it’s 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,” read his statement.
A related law signed in Mississippi this week allows people with religious objections to deny wedding services to same-sex couples and permits employers to cite religion in determining workplace policies on dress code, grooming and bathroom and locker access.
South Carolina lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a measure that would require transgender people to use public bathrooms matching their sex at birth, and Tennessee is considering a similar measure for students in public schools and colleges.
Newsletter
