It won’t be all about the basketball experience when the University of Maine men’s team visits No. 4/5 Duke University on Saturday evening in Durham, North Carolina.
USA Today reported that the Black Bears will participate in a visible protest against House Bill 2, North Carolina’s controversial legislation that requires transgender people to use restrooms corresponding to the sex on their birth certificates.
According to the report, UMaine players will wear black warm-up T-shirts with a rainbow America East logo as part of an effort with You Can Play Project, an organization that supports the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people to compete in sports without enduring discrimination.
The gesture, while somewhat subdued, may generate some attention as the 5:30 p.m. game is scheduled to be broadcast live nationally on ESPN2.
UMaine coaches and team members on Thursday watched a video made by Chris Mosier, You Can Play’s vice president of program development and community relations, who talked to the Black Bears about the North Carolina law and its impact.
“It was great dialogue,” said UMaine head coach Bob Walsh. “He talked a lot about his experiences and how our players, as male student-athletes on campus, can become allies of groups looking for equality and inclusion.
“Coach K [Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski] came out strongly against the law, and this is an opportunity for us to support inclusion, equality and respect,” he said. “This is what our university and our league is all about. Our players are really interested in what we can do as a group [to support it].”
The America East Conference in 2012 partnered with the You Can Play Project in an effort to ensure equality, respect and safety for all athletes without regard to sexual orientation or gender identity.
America East was the first conference to align with You Can Play, which was created by Patrick Burke to honor his late brother Brendan, who was gay and a student manager for the Miami University hockey team.
Brendan Burke was killed in an auto accident in 2010.
Patrick and Brendan Burke are the sons of Calgary Flames director of hockey operations and former NHL general manager Brian Burke.
The league routinely runs promotional announcements featuring America East student-athletes and administrators voicing their support for the initiative.
The teams usually wear the T-shirts once per year during a league game.
“Had we not had the groundwork from 2012, I don’t think Maine would be taking such an assertive effort for the Duke game,” America East Commissioner Amy Huchthausen told USA Today. “We haven’t issued an official statement on HB2, but our actions have spoken pretty loud and clear of where we stand. When people turn on the TV on Saturday, the message can speak for itself.”
However, the decision by UMaine officials to participate in such a demonstration appears to have come recently.
“There’s nothing political about it either way,” Creech said at the time. “It’s just an opportunity for our students to go down there and experience a great college basketball atmosphere, arguably the best in college basketball.”
Creech said on Friday that in addition to the experience of playing at Cameron Indoor Stadium, “this allows our players to be exposed to what are very real social issues around our country and get them involved in the process.
“This is an educational opportunity for the young men on our basketball team, and it gives them a chance to reaffirm the University of Maine’s values and stances on equality and inclusion,” said Creech.
North Carolina’s HB2 was signed into law earlier in 2016 by Gov. Pat McCrory. The law involving restroom use applies only to bathrooms located in schools, government buildings and public universities.
“It’s one thing to boycott or not show up because of the financial impact and the message that would send,” Mosier told USA Today. “But they wanted to be visible, and the biggest thing is they want to take the next step. It’s not just wearing a pin or a patch or a shirt. They want to be better allies.”
The HB2 law has been the subject of considerable controversy, both in North Carolina and around the country. The NCAA pulled all of its scheduled championship competitions for 2016 out of the state, and the NBA also elected to change the venue for its 2017 All-Star Game, which had been scheduled to be held in Charlotte.
Several musical performers including Bruce Springsteen, Ringo Starr and Pearl Jam have canceled concerts scheduled in North Carolina to protest the law.
Another America East men’s basketball program, the University at Albany, canceled a previously scheduled Nov. 12 game at Duke as the result of an executive order issued by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo banning publicly funded travel to North Carolina.
The University of Vermont also pulled out of a planned women’s basketball game at the University of North Carolina.
Duke is a private university and as such is not subject to the state law on its campus. Officials at the school previously have spoken out against the legislation.
Krzyzewski called it “embarrassing” during a previous interview with USA Today.