Steven Van Zandt, guitarist for Bruce
Springsteen and the E Street Band, talked to the AP about the band's
decision to cancel a concert in North Carolina in protest of a law
that targets the LGBT community.
House Bill 2, approved last month
during a one-day special session, blocks cities from enacting
ordinances that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation
or gender identity and bars students attending public institutions
from using the bathroom that does not conform to their gender at
birth.
The band was set to perform Sunday in
Greensboro, but announced Friday that it would not perform in North
Carolina as a show of support for “freedom fighters” working to
overcome “these negative developments.”
Van Zandt told the AP that Springsteen
and the band considered finding a middle ground.
“We always try to find a middle
ground, and we considered it,” Van
Zandt said. “Should we go there and make a statement from the
stage? You consider those things, and then you realize that's just
playing into their hands. That's not going to hurt enough – you
need to hurt them economically.”
“This sort of thing is spreading like
an evil virus around the country. We felt we better stop this, we
should try and stop this early, and hopefully other people will rise
up and join us.”
He added that he believes
discrimination is anti-American. “As far as I'm concerned, it's
anti-American discriminating against people. Whether it's women,
whether it's gay, transgender, there's no difference. It was very
important to us to take a stand early in this before it starts to
spread all over the place,” he said.