US rock bands Pearl Jam and Boston have canceled shows in North Carolina over a new state law they call discriminatory against transgender people, the groups said on Monday.
The cancellations make the bands the latest entertainment acts to take a stance against the measure, known as House Bill 2.
"The HB2 law that was recently passed is a despicable piece of legislation that encourages discrimination against an entire group of American citizens," Pearl Jam, a pioneering grunge rock group, said in a handwritten statement posted on its Facebook page.
Pearl Jam had a Wednesday concert scheduled in Raleigh. Boston, which had its greatest success in the 1970s and 1980s, had been set for three shows next month in the state.