Demi Lovato And Nick Jonas Cancel Concerts In North Carolina Over Anti-LGBT HB2 Law

There has already been a growing number of musicians, bands, and celebrities who have voiced their opposition to North Carolina’s HB2 law, and now singers Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas are also on that list.

The two musical heartthrobs were going to be stopping by Charlotte and Raleigh on June 30 and July 2 for Honda Civic’s “Future Now” tour, but have now cancelled their concerts, in opposition to the recently passed law. Lovato and Jonas released a joint statement through Twitter, with the hashtag #RepealHB2.

“After much thought and deliberation, we have decided to cancel our Honda Civic Tour: Future Now shows in Raleigh and Charlotte. One of our goals for the tour has always been to create an atmosphere where every single attendee feels equal, included and accepted for who they are. North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2 law is extremely disappointing, and it takes away some of the LGBT community’s most basic rights and protections. But we will not allow this to stop us from continuing to make progress for equality and acceptance. We know the cancellation of these shows is disappointing to our fans, but we trust that you will stand United with us against this hateful law.”

“By taking a firm stand against North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2 law, they’re sending a clear message to fans and lawmakers alike: hate should never be tolerated,” Ellis said.

North Carolina’s discriminatory HB2 law — which forbids transgender people from using public bathrooms that match their gender identity, as well as eliminates local protections for transgender people and the LGBT community — has been getting the state into a whole mess of trouble these last several weeks. PayPal was making plans to open a brand new global operations center, which would have been located in Charlotte and would have provided 400 people with employment. But due to the discrimination law, Dan Schulman, PayPal President and CEO, pulled the plug on that project. A number of other business also voiced their protest against the bill.

Demi Lovato and Nick Jonas join a long list of celebrities who have recently spoken out against North Carolina’s anti-LGBT bill. Comedian and actor Joel McHale, while performing a comedy show at the Durham Performing Arts Center, told the crowd how terrible he thought the bill was. In addition, he declared that he would be donating all of the proceeds from that North Carolina show to the Durham LGBT Center.

Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band were going to be performing at the Greensboro Coliseum earlier this month, but their show was also cancelled in reaction to the HB2 law. The show at that point had sold nearly 15,000 tickets, which were all eligible for refunds.

I ?? Bruce @Springsteen.

— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) April 8, 2016

Mumford and Sons wrote a letter to their fans on Facebook, letting them know that they would be donating profits from their concert in Charlotte to LGBT charities. In addition to that, the group has doubled down on their fight against discrimination by creating The Gentlemen of the Road Fund. It is a non-profit that will be donating to social justice charities.

Cyndi Lauper announced that all of the profits from her concert in Raleigh on June 4 will go to support Equality North Carolina’s fight against the HB2 bill. Other celebrities and musicians like Billy Ray Cyrus, Gregg Allman, Ringo Starr, Pearl Jam, as well as Cirque du Soleil, have cancelled shows/concerts and spoken out against the discriminatory law.

[Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for GLAAD]