Attorney General Adds 5 States To California's 'Anti-LGBT' List

SACRAMENTO – State Attorney General Rob Bonta has announced that California will restrict state-funded travel to five states as a result of new anti-LGBTQ+ legislation they've recently enacted.

The travel restrictions are being applied as the states, Arkansas, Florida, Montana, North Dakota, and West Virginia, have recently enacted laws that directly work to ban transgender youth from playing sports, block access to life-saving care, or otherwise limit the rights of members of the LGBTQ+ community.

The restrictions on state-funded travel are prescribed by law in California pursuant to Assembly Bill 1887 (AB 1887), which was enacted in 2016. Today's announcement brings the total of states on California’s state-funded travel restrictions list to 17.

“Assembly Bill 1887 is about aligning our dollars with our values,” said Attorney General Bonta. “When states discriminate against LGBTQ+ Americans, California law requires our office to take action. These new additions to the state-funded travel restrictions list are about exactly that."

"It’s been 52 years to the day since the Stonewall Riots began," Bonta added, "but that same fight remains all too alive and well in this country. Rather than focusing on solving real issues, some politicians think it’s in their best interest to demonize trans youth and block life-saving care. Make no mistake: We’re in the midst of an unprecedented wave of bigotry and discrimination in this country — and the State of California is not going to support it.”

When creating AB 1887, the California Legislature determined that the state must take action to avoid supporting or financing discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans. To that end, the law restricts a state agency, department, board, or commission from authorizing state-funded travel to any state that, after June 26, 2015, has enacted a law authorizing or repealing existing protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

A release from the Attorney General's office listed the individual legislation that caused the five new states to be added to the AB 1887 list :

ARKANSAS
Arkansas is being added to the state-funded travel restrictions list as a result of Senate Bill 354, Senate Bill 289, and House Bill 1570.

Senate Bill 354, among other things, prevents transgender women and girls from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity. Senate Bill 289 allows medical providers to deny care to LGBTQ+ Americans. Lastly, House Bill 1570 is the first law in the nation to prohibit physicians from providing gender-affirming healthcare to transgender minors, regardless of the wishes of parents or whether a physician deems such care to be medically necessary.

The first two bills were signed into law in March, whilst the third bill was passed after Arkansas’ General Assembly overrode the Governor’s veto on April 6.

Given the effective date for the new laws, Arkansas, pursuant to AB 1887, will be added to California’s travel restrictions list on July 29, 2021.

FLORIDA
Florida is being added to the list as a result of Senate Bill 1028, which prevents transgender women and girls from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity.

Signed into law on the first day of Pride Month, the effective date for the new law will see Florida added to California’s travel restrictions list on July 1, 2021.

MONTANA
Montana is being added to the travel restrictions list as a result of House Bill 112 and Senate Bill 215.

House Bill 112 prevents transgender women and girls from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity. The bill was signed into law in May.

Senate Bill 215 overrides existing state and local laws and policies that prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ+ Americans. It threatens to, among other effects, allow businesses to refuse a broad range of services to same-sex couples because of their sexual orientation alone. The bill was signed into law in April.

Given the effective date for the new laws, Montana will also be added to the travel restrictions list on July 1, 2021.

NORTH DAKOTA
North Dakota is being added to the travel restrictions list as a result of House Bill 1503.

Signed into law on April 16, House Bill 1503, among other things, repeals existing protections at some North Dakota public universities by permitting certain publicly-funded student organizations to openly discriminate against LGBTQ+ students by restricting participation in those organizations. It also limits the ability of universities and colleges to sanction or discipline student-on-student harassment.

Based on the effective date for the new law, North Dakota will be added to the travel restrictions list on August 1, 2021.

WEST VIRGINIA
West Virginia is being added to the travel restrictions list as a result of House Bill 3293.

Signed into law on April 28, House Bill 3293 prevents transgender women and girls from participating in school sports consistent with their gender identity.

Given the effective date for the new law, West Virginia will be added to California’s travel restrictions list on July 8, 2021.

Each state agency is responsible for consulting the AB 1887 list, maintained by the California Department of Justice, in order to comply with the travel and funding restrictions.

The following 12 states were already on the AB 1887 list : Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas.

For additional information on AB 1887, including the full list of states now subject to its provisions, visit: https://oag.ca.gov/ab1887.