Another day, another prominent rock star canceling a show to protest a controversial new law in a Southern state.
Bryan Adams, a Canadian musician, announced Sunday night that he was canceling a scheduled concert in Mississippi to protest a law that will let businesses as well as state employees refuse service to gay people. Adams said he was using his voice to “stand in solidarity with all my LGBT friends” pushing to have “this extremely discriminatory bill” repealed.
Adams’s announcement comes on the heels of Bruce Springsteen’s decision to cancel a concert in North Carolina to take a stand against a new law there that bars local governments from extending civil rights protections to gay and transgender people. The North Carolina law — which last week cost the state a PayPal facility expected to bring hundreds of jobs — also states that transgender people cannot use bathrooms that don’t match the gender listed for them at birth.
The law in Mississippi, signed last week by Gov. Phil Bryant (R), states that it protects “sincerely held religious beliefs or moral convictions,” such as the belief that marriage is only between a man and a woman. When it goes into effect this summer, the law will allow people with such convictions to refuse to serve events such as a same-sex wedding. This law also protects the belief that a person’s gender is “determined by anatomy and genetics at time of birth” and says that businesses can determine who is allowed to access bathrooms, dressing rooms and locker rooms.
Advertisement
“I find it incomprehensible that LGBT citizens are being discriminated against in the state of Mississippi,” Adams wrote in a statement posted on his website and social media channels. “I cannot in good conscience perform in a state where certain people are being denied their civil rights due to their sexual orientation.”
Share this articleShareThe decisions by Springsteen and Adams come as these laws — which are being debated nationwide — have prompted a strong backlash from big businesses and entertainers alike.
Proponents of these laws, including the governors of North Carolina and Mississippi, have argued that they are needed to protect people with sincere religious beliefs. An array of companies have spoken out against the laws as well as scuttled or changed legislation in several other states. Springsteen and Adams have taken the opposition a step further, using their celebrity to highlight protests against these laws. Last week, the online payments firm PayPal said it was scrapping plans to open a facility in North Carolina because of that state’s law.
Advertisement
In Adams’s case, the “(Everything I Do) I Do It For You” singer had been scheduled to perform Thursday at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi. He said he hopes to put on a show in the state eventually.
“Hopefully Mississippi will right itself and I can come back and perform for all of my many fans,” Adams wrote. “I look forward to that day.”
Further reading:
Federal funding to North Carolina could be jeopardized by the new law
What the deepening fight between social conservatives and big businesses means for the GOP
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7uK3SoaCnn6Sku7G70q1lnKedZLumw9Jop6irpGK7osDIqKVor6Bkf3F9lWhnbWdhZnyjvtiapWaZlJa6tHnCmqWcnZyoeq610qxknKeemLKzwIytpmaooqTBpr%2FTZqOar12hsrXAyKeeZpqlqLavsdKsnKxlopqztr%2FEZqqeqqaesKZ506hkoJmpYr2mu8%2BlnGg%3D