Violinist Itzhak Perlman cancels North Carolina performance

“I couldn’t agree more and will look forward to returning to North Carolina when this discriminatory law is repealed”, said Perlman, who performed at President Barack Obama’s inauguration in 2009.

But Perlman reversed the decision Tuesday after he said symphony management told him they could not print his opposition to the bill in the program.

Perlman went on in the interview to take a mild and deserved shot at the orchestra management which said in a statement that it was “nonpartisan” and that their performances “are not an appropriate forum for political commentary”.

Gov. Pat McCrory (R) has repeatedly defended the measure he signed into law in March.

He walks with crutches and performs sitting down because his legs were left weakened after contracting polio at the age of four. After that exchange, I thought, ‘I am going into a hostile situation.’ And that’s when I said, ‘As much as I hate to cause problems and stress, I have to have a stand.

McCrory issued a statement Wednesday responding to John’s essay.

In response to the orchestra’s written statement, Perlman replies: “The orchestra can not say that they are non-partisan”.

Perlman became the latest of a series of renowned musicians to protest the law.

Failing to consider the experiences of transgender people is a “brand of ignorance (that) deliberately shuts out the perspective of an already marginalized community”, John wrote.

Although he is not a US citizen, John is speaking up because, he says, this issue is related to one of his main charitable endeavors, fighting HIV/AIDS through his Elton John Foundation.

Two protesters hold up signs against passage of legislation in North Carolina that bars transgender people from using bathrooms that match their gender identity.

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Rock legend Bruce Springsteen was the first prominent artist to launch a boycott and has been followed by Pearl Jam and the Cirque du Soleil circus.