NHL to reassess hosting '18 draft in Dallas if bathroom bill becomes law

NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly says the league will rethink hosting the 2018 draft in Dallas should a Texas transgender bathroom bill become law.

"We strongly oppose the bill in its original form," Daly told Sportsnet's Mark Spector in an email Wednesday. "We hope and expect that bill in that form will not be passed into law. We would obviously have to reassess the situation in the event that happens."

According to the New York Times, the Senate bill "would require transgender people to use bathrooms in schools and local government buildings corresponding to the gender listed on their birth certificates or state-issued identification cards."

The Stars are the first Texas-based professional sports team to denounce the bill, and the club is "strongly opposed to any legislation perceived as discriminatory, president James Lites said in a statement Wednesday.

"We're thrilled that Dallas will host the NHL draft next year, and we're grateful that the NHL sees the true Dallas that we know and love, a Dallas that is friendly and vibrant," Lites added. "Dallas will be a wonderful host city and we're grateful for the NHL's business. We are proud of our home and want every visitor to feel at home here, too, and that's why we oppose this discriminatory bathroom legislation."

A special 30-day legislative session was called on July 18, and the Senate passed the bill on July 25. With the session ending on Aug. 16, "a narrower one is showing few signs of life in the 150-member House," according to The New York Times.

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