California has added four more states to its travel-ban list because they have passed laws that discriminate against LGBTQ people. Assembly Bill 1887 outlaws taxpayer-funded travel to states that, since June 26, 2015, have enacted laws discriminating against people on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Photo: LPETTET/iStock
SACRAMENTO — California has added four more states to its travel ban list because they have passed laws that discriminate against LGBTQ people.
Assembly Bill 1887 outlaws taxpayer-funded travel to states that, since June 26, 2015, have enacted laws discriminating against people on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
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CALIFORNIA TRAVEL-BAN LIST
Attorney General Xavier Becerra added Alabama, Kentucky, South Dakota and Texas to the travel ban on Thursday and doubled the number of the blacklisted states on the list to eight, which already includes Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee.
“Our country has made great strides in dismantling prejudicial laws that have deprived too many of our fellow Americans of their precious rights. Sadly, that is not the case in all parts of our nation, even in the 21st century,” Becerra said in a statement. “Discriminatory laws in any part of our country send all of us several steps back. That’s why when California said we would not tolerate discrimination against LGBTQ members of our community, we meant it.”
The bill — signed into law in September 2016 after North Carolina passed its controversial “bathroom bill,” which barred people from using bathrooms in public buildings that do not correspond to their gender at birth — was implemented in January and allows the attorney general to updated the blacklist as necessary.
CALIFORNIA LAW EXEMPTIONS
The law includes exemptions for law enforcement officers, tax auditors, training events that are required for grants and contracts signed before January 1. California’s tax-collecting Board of Equalization has an office in Houston.
Here are the bills passed by the four additional Southern states that put them on the travel-ban list.
- Alabama: HB 24 was enacted on May 2. HB 24 could prevent qualified prospective LGBT parents from adopting or serving as foster parents.
- Kentucky: SB 17 was enacted on March 16. SB 17 could allow student-run organizations in colleges and K-12 schools to discriminate against classmates based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
- South Dakota: SB 149 was enacted March 10. SB 149 could prevent qualified LGBT couples from adopting or serving as foster parents.
- Texas: HB 3859 was enacted on June 15. HB 3859, allows foster care agencies to discriminate against children in foster care and potentially disqualify LGBT families from the state’s foster and adoption system
