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49ers donate $75K to help repeal North Carolina's controversial LGBT law

The San Francisco 49ers have donated $75,000 to help repeal North Carolina’s controversial LGBT law, House Bill 2, the the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

CEO Jed York said the 49ers' donation went to Equality North Carolina, a nonprofit focused on LGBT issues.

"When you see something that to me is blatant disregard for human rights ... I wanted to make sure we did something and didn’t stand for discrimination to take place in our country," York told the Chronicle.

The 49ers are scheduled to play the Carolina Panthers Sept. 18 at Bank of America Stadium. York said the 49ers did not plan to boycott the game.

HB2 requires people in government facilities to use the restroom that corresponds with the gender on their birth certificate. It also sets statewide categories of protected classes under nondiscrimination laws that exclude sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill was signed into law March 23.

York said he has a friend that is connected with the LGBT community in Charlotte, and "If we are having a meeting here, I wanted to do something."

He added that there are a lot of things that are misconstrued about the law, saying there is a "fear mongering campaign" when it comes to transgender people using public bathrooms.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league is opposed to discrimination "in any form."

"It is very important to us to have diversity," Goodell said. "We made that clear publicly. We made that clear in other situations. We made that clear a long time ago. The city of Charlotte has continued to fight this issue."

Goodell pointed out the NFC champion Panthers play in Charlotte and "we want to work with the community. We're not going to threaten the community. We're going to work with the community to make the effective changes that are necessary long-term."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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