Jerusalem – Renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman on Tuesday became the latest entertainer to cancel a performance in North Carolina to protest against the state’s law requiring transgender people to use public bathrooms that match their sex at birth.
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The Israeli-born musician was to perform on Wednesday night with the North Carolina Symphony in Raleigh.
In a statement on Facebook, he quoted U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s recent comments that the law was about more than just bathrooms but also “the dignity and respect we accord our fellow citizens.”
“I couldn’t agree more and will look forward to returning to North Carolina when this discriminatory law is repealed,” said Perlman, who performed at President Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009.
North Carolina in March became the first state in the country to ban people from using multiple-occupancy public restrooms and changing facilities that correspond with their gender identity. The law also blocks local governments from passing anti-discrimination ordinances that include protections based gender identity and sexual orientation.
Republican lawmakers who support the bathroom measure say it is needed to protect safety and privacy, but last week the U.S. Justice Department asked a federal district court to declare that the state is violating the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Perlman, a Grammy Award winner, is the latest in a line of performers who have backed out of shows in North Carolina in a stand against the law. They include Bruce Springsteen, Demi Lovato, Nick Jonas, Boston, Pearl Jam, Ringo Starr and the group Cirque du Soleil. Companies and conventions also have boycotted the state.
In an essay published by The Hill news site on Tuesday, musician Elton John said North Carolina lawmakers needed to reverse course and get “a lesson in compassion.”
Failing to consider the experiences of transgender people is a “brand of ignorance (that) deliberately shuts out the perspective of an already marginalized community,” John wrote. “It’s dangerous, and it goes beyond bathrooms.”
Stick to playing music stay out of poilitcs!
Should we expect anything different from a Jew who doesn’t keep the Torah?
More proof that secular Jews, like non-Jews and animals, have their minds all day in the toilet and filth.
I guess then Mr. Perlman would not mind if a woman walked into a man’s bathroom and watched him relieve himself. But you have to remember Mr. Perlman will have a private bathroom in his dressing room and a helper to help him, so why should he care about anyone else. It is sad to deprive many people of his beautiful music for foolishness.
So much to say about this, just so sickening to see one of misheluni on the wrong side of the fight for human decency. And I don’t are about his level of observance. Why are we not more vocal about our values? Because we have our sights on leftist/liberal/progressive/democratic $$$? Not in my name.