While Bruce Springsteen has always been a political artist, I’ve never really thought of him as a warrior for LGBTQ rights. He is, as always, an advocate for the working class, for the underdog, for the oppressed, but I always thought it was more of a general socioeconomic political leaning, not specific to the LGBT demographic. But as it turns out, he’s been an LGBTQ ally for years, even publicly supporting gay marriage before the SCOTUS decision. And now Bruce is putting his money where his mouth is: following the passage of the worst anti-LGBTQ law in modern American history, Bruce has decided to boycott the state of North Carolina.

First, some background: North Carolina and Georgia were pursuing “Religious Freedom” laws which were basically laws giving terrible, hateful people the legal right to discriminate against LGTBQ people. Georgia’s governor ended up vetoing the bill after corporations (like Marvel, Disney, etc) threatened to pull their business from the state. Currently, corporations are making similar threats to the state of North Carolina. Apple, Microsoft, Dow Chemical, the NBA and more have all made noise about pulling their business. But Bruce Springsteen has become the first major artist to officially boycott the state. He was supposed to perform in Greensboro tonight but he announced on Facebook that he’s pulling out of the gig.

As you, my fans, know I’m scheduled to play in Greensboro, North Carolina this Sunday. As we also know, North Carolina has just passed HB2, which the media are referring to as the “bathroom” law. HB2 — known officially as the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act — dictates which bathrooms transgender people are permitted to use. Just as important, the law also attacks the rights of LGBT citizens to sue when their human rights are violated in the workplace. No other group of North Carolinians faces such a burden.

To my mind, it’s an attempt by people who cannot stand the progress our country has made in recognizing the human rights of all of our citizens to overturn that progress. Right now, there are many groups, businesses, and individuals in North Carolina working to oppose and overcome these negative developments. Taking all of this into account, I feel that this is a time for me and the band to show solidarity for those freedom fighters. As a result, and with deepest apologies to our dedicated fans in Greensboro, we have canceled our show scheduled for Sunday, April 10th.

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. It is the strongest means I have for raising my voice in opposition to those who continue to push us backwards instead of forwards.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’s Sunday April 10th show is canceled. Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase.

[From Bruce’s Facebook]

This almost brought a tear to my eye. This is what an Ally looks like. Good for him! Incidentally, the North Carolina law is even worse than people realized – it includes widespread changes to worker protections from discrimination. As in, if you get fired from your North Carolina job because you’re gay/Muslim/female, it’s now a lot harder for you to sue your former employer for discrimination.

Photos courtesy of WENN.