At some point the North Carolina legislature is going to capitulate on its “bathroom” law. Will the NCAA’s latest move be the tipping point?

Much has been written and said about NC’s discriminatory “bathroom” law. And now even more is going to be written and said, thanks to the NCAA’s decision to yank seven college sports championship events from the state.

Late Monday, the NCAA announced it was pulling seven championship events out of North Carolina in the coming school year over the state’s so-called “bathroom law” — legislation best known for barring transgender people from using government building bathrooms in accordance with their gender identities.

The action came on top of numerous protests and calls to repeal the measure, all of which have gone unheeded by North Carolina’s Republican-controlled legislature and Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, who’s running for reelection.

The article linked here wonders whether this move will be the one that forces the governor and his pack of Jesus-addled hate hyenas to finally back down. Anything is possible, I guess, but if you think it’s inevitable, well, let me remind you that this is the state that elected Jesse Helms to the Senate five times, despite the fact that he was so reviled by his colleagues they stood on the Senate floor with the mics running and threatened to punish NC for his intransigence.

Still, one thing is for sure – HB2 hasn’t been cheap. Experts say the NBA’s decision to pull the 2017 All-Star Game cost the Greater Charlotte area $100 million. A Chamber of Commerce “report that showed Mecklenburg County has suffered an economic blow of $285 million and a loss of as many as 1,300 jobs as a result of HB2.” Specifically, the tab includes:

• $3.7 million in lost sales and property tax collections for the county.
• $202.7 million in lost wages and benefits in the county.
• $7.1 million in lost income and sales tax revenue for North Carolina and its counties.

Losing things like Bruce Springsteen concerts, that hurts, too. It isn’t clear, from what I’m reading, whether these figures include PayPal’s announcement that it wasn’t going to be setting up shop in the state, after all. That facility would have meant at $3.6 million investment, creating 400 new jobs by the end of 2017.

I can tell you two things about the good folks of my native Old North State. First, they loves them some Jesus (and Jesus had all kinds of things to say about transgenders in le pissoir at Target – you can look it up).

Second, they loves them some money. And they do not like it when the former gets in the way of the latter. (No, they don’t always vote rationally where financial self-interest is concerned, but that’s because the education system isn’t famous for inculcating a lot in the way of critical thinking skills.)

At some point, though – maybe sooner rather than later – money is going to begin talking to the state’s civic leaders. Step one will involve a concise message: you’re fucking with my wallet. Cut it out. Now.

If that fails, money will begin flowing into the campaigns of those seeking to unseat the incumbency.

It’s a damned shame, though, that so many innocent people have to suffer.