AUSTIN (WBAP/KLIF News) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott blasted the NFL Tuesday for its blunt warning suggesting that the future of NFL events in Texas, including Superbowls, would be highly doubtful if a bill limiting the use of public restrooms becomes law. Senate Bill 6, which has already been approved by the Texas Senate, would require transgender people to use bathrooms in public schools, government buildings and public universities based on their “biological sex.” It would also pre-empt any local ordinances that might contradict it.
The governor told syndicated talk radio host Glenn Beck (heard locally on KLIF-570AM), “The NFL is walking on thin ice right here; the NFL needs to concentrate on playing football and get the heck out of politics.”
The NFL admonishment came from spokesman Brian McCarthy a few days after Super Bowl LI was played in Houston, saying the legislation working its way through the state capitol is “discriminatory or inconsistent with our values” and if the bill becomes law it would be a factor in consideration of whether to hold future NFL events in Texas.
Gov. Abbott was having none of it.
“For some low-level NFL adviser to come out and say that they are going to micromanage and try to dictate to the state of Texas what types of policies we’re going to pass in our state, that’s unacceptable,” Abbott told Beck. “We don’t care what the NFL thinks and certainly what their political policies are because they are not a political arm of the state of Texas or the United States of America. They need to learn their place in the United States, which is to govern football, not politics.”
The Texas Tribune said Abbott’s remarks were notable because until now the governor has taken a mostly neutral stance on SB 6. Whether his remarks on Beck’s radio show merely reflect his annoyance at the NFL for sticking its nose in Texas’ business or signals a significant shift in his public opinion on the bill itself is unknown.
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