North Carolina anti-LGBT law: Ringo Starr cancels concert

Count Ringo Starr as the latest musician to cancel a show in North Carolina.

The former Beatle announced Wednesday he has canceled the All Starr Tour stop in Cary, North Carolina on June 18 at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in response to the state’s controversial Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act (aka HB2).

“I’m sorry to disappoint my fans in the area, but we need to take a stand against this hatred. Spread peace and love,” Starr said in a statement. “How sad that they feel that this group of people cannot be defended.”

North Carolina passed the bill on March 23 to block an expansion on the state’s current anti-discrimination law that would have gone into effect this month. The original ordinance would have granted members of the LGBT community protection in public accommodations, meaning transgender people could safely use restrooms of the gender to which they identify. Among other points, HB2 made the state’s current anti-discrimination law unchangeable.

Bruce Springsteen was the first high-profile performer to cancel a gig in the state. “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,” he wrote Friday.

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Bryan Adams canceled Thursday’s show in Biloxi, Mississippi over a new law that outlaws the punishment of people who discriminate against others based on sexual orientation.

Jimmy Buffett and Gregg Allman both condemned HB2, but neither canceled their scheduled performances in North Carolina. Billy Ray Cyrus joined the anti-HB2 crowd Tuesday via a Facebook post.

“As Canned Heat sang, ‘Let’s work together,'” the end of Starr’s statement reads. “And The Beatles said, ‘All you need is love.'”