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A famous Broadway composer just banned North Carolina from performing any of his shows.

The North Carolinians trying to take down their state's new anti-LGBT "bathroom law" just got a huge assist from Stephen Schwartz, the composer and lyricist of the Broadway smash-hit "Wicked."

I got you. GIF from "Wicked."


The law, which was passed in response to Charlotte's LGBT nondiscrimination ordinance, revokes that statute and forces transgender people to use the bathroom that corresponds to their sex as assigned at birth.

Schwartz, who also wrote music and lyrics for "Pippin" and "Godspell," has declared his entire catalog off-limits to theaters in the state until the law is repealed.


Stephen Schwartz. Photo by Rommel Demano/Getty Images.

He's also urging his fellow Broadway writers and producers to join him.

...and it's pretty hard to argue with the case he makes in a letter obtained by BroadwayWorld.com:

"To my fellow theatre writers and producers: As you no doubt know, the state of North Carolina has recently passed a reprehensible and discriminatory law. I feel that it is very important that any state that passes such a law suffer economic and cultural consequences, partly because it is deserved and partly to discourage other states from following suit.

Therefore, I and my collaborators are acting to deny the right to any theatre or organization based in North Carolina to produce any of our shows. We have informed our licensing organizations and touring producers of this, and I'm happy to say have met with compliance and approval from them.

In the 1970s, I, along with many other writers and artists, participated in a similar action against apartheid in South Africa, and as you know, this eventually proved to be very effective.

If you are in agreement, you may want to join me in refusing to license our properties to, or permit productions of our work by, theaters and organizations in North Carolina until this heinous legislation is repealed.

Thank you for considering this,

Stephen Schwartz"

Schwartz is far from alone in his plans to boycott the state now that HB2 is law.

Dozens of furniture buyers have announced plans to skip the High Point Market, a biannual trade show that brings more than $5 billion in revenue into North Carolina.

PepsiCo is one of a number of companies that have spoken out against the law. Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

In addition, many businesses that have large footprints in the state, including American Airlines, Lowe's, and PayPal, have spoken out against the law. On Saturday, The Charlotte Observer reported that the CEO of PepsiCo had contacted Governor Pat McCrory to call for the law's repeal.

One thing's for sure: The North Carolina state legislators who passed the law are getting more than they bargained for.

...including a well-deserved kiss-off from witches of Oz:

GIF from "Wicked."

And like Glinda (Galinda?), a lot of North Carolinians couldn't be happier.

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“I (34F) have a (5M) son who attends preschool. A few hours after I picked him up from school today, I got a phone call from his teacher,” Flowergardens0 wrote. “She made absolutely no effort to sound kind when she, in an extremely rude and annoyed tone, told me to stop packing my son such ‘disgusting and inappropriate’ lunches."

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