LGBT Rights North Carolina

Two protesters hold up signs against passage of legislation in North Carolina, which limits the bathroom options for transgender people, during a March 31 rally in Charlotte. The legislation has spurred business leaders, major artists and entertainers to call for its repeal.

(Skip Foreman/AP)

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A controversial anti-LGBT law in North Carolina has sparked rebukes from rights groups, business leaders, artists and entertainers, and led to more than a dozen canceled conventions.

It was even the inspiration of a widely circulated fake news account featured briefly on cleveland.com in which the NBA threatened to move next year's All-Star game to another city.

The Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act, or HB 2, has sparked fierce debate since North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed it into law the same day it was introduced and passed by state legislators.

Lawmakers passed the bill in response to a Charlotte ordinance that added protections for LGBT residents in "places of public accommodations," which also allowed transgender people to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with.

Proponents say the law is necessary to roll back Charlotte's ordinance, which they say went too far, and to protect women and children in public restrooms, according to Yahoo News.

The law's opponents argue that there have been no issues in the 18 states that have similar protections in place, and that the new law illegally targets the state's LGBT community and would ope the door to widespread discrimination in housing, employment and public accommodations.

North Carolina's Attorney General Roy Cooper said he would refuse to defend the law in court.

"We're talking about discrimination here," Cooper said at a press conference, according to CNN. "Not only is this new law a national embarrassment, it will set North Carolina's economy back."

Bruce Springsteen made waves Friday when he canceled his Sunday night show in Greensboro, citing the bill in a scathing statement posted on his website

"Some things are more important than a rock show and this fight against prejudice and bigotry -- which is happening as I write -- is one of them," Springsteen wrote.

Springsteen's decision came after executives from more than 100 companies signed an open letter calling on state legislators to repeal the law, from Starbucks, Facebook and Apple to Wells Fargo, Citibank and Kellogg Company, according to CNN.

Leaders here invited PayPal for a visit after the company nixed plans to open a 400-employee global operations center in North Carolina. And Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish banned county employees from traveling to the state on non-essential business.

And WNCN reported that 13 Charlotte conventions have been canceled and as many as 29 groups planning conventions are concerned.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this post included information from another cleveland.com story that has been removed from the site.