NCAA President Mark Emmert has stated that the NCAA is "especially concerned" about Indiana's recently passed "religious freedom" law.
From USA Today:
The NCAA is "especially concerned" by a recently enacted law in Indiana, which hosts this year's Final Four, that grants businesses the right to refuse service to gay and lesbian couples, NCAA President Mark Emmert said in a statement released on Thursday.
"The NCAA national office and our members are deeply committed to providing an inclusive environment for all our events," the statement read. "We are especially concerned about how this legislation could affect our student-athletes and employees.
"We will work diligently to assure student-athletes competing in, and visitors attending, next week's Men's Final Four in Indianapolis are not impacted negatively by this bill. Moving forward, we intend to closely examine the implications of this bill and how it might affect future events as well as our workforce."
The Final Four is scheduled to be held at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on April 4.
And, a statement from Charles Barkley:
NCAA tournament analyst Charles Barkley released a statement Friday calling for big events such as the Final Four and the Super Bowl not to be held in Indiana in light of recent legislation in the state that many view as discriminatory against gay, lesbian and transgendered people.
“Discrimination in any form is unacceptable to me," Barkley said in the statement.
"As long as anti-gay legislation exists in any state, I strongly believe big events such as the Final Four and Super Bowl should not be held in those states’ cities.”
via
Sports Illustrated
The NFL is also concerned about it.
In the meantime, lawmakers in other states might want to think twice about these so-called "religious freedom" bills. A number of states will be considering similar legislation in the coming weeks.
AFA's Bryan Fischer is not happy about the (commercial) backlash in Indiana.
Update 1: