NFL’s Roger Goodell on HB2: Discrimination ‘is something that we oppose’

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell stopped short of calling for North Carolina legislators to repeal controversial House Bill 2, but said the league supports Charlotte leaders’ efforts at diversity.

Goodell was speaking at the close of Tuesday’s NFL spring meeting, which the league kept at the Ballantyne Hotel in the midst of various economic boycotts throughout the state in response to HB2. The General Assembly passed the bill in March to preempt the Charlotte ordinance that expanded its nondiscrimination policy to cover LGBT people.

Goodell said he spoke with Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts on Monday about the issue.

“We support those efforts. Anything that discriminates is something that we oppose, and we will continue to fight that,” Goodell said. “But we have a franchise here. The Carolina Panthers play here. They operate here. And we want to work with the community. We’re not going to threaten the community. We’re going to work with the community to make the effective changes that are necessary long-term.”

San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York on Tuesday called for a repeal of HB2 and pledged $75,000 to further the work of the Equality North Carolina Foundation, a LGBT rights advocacy group.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 6:49 PM with the headline "NFL’s Roger Goodell on HB2: Discrimination ‘is something that we oppose’."