CA Bans State-Funded Travel To 5 More States With Anti-LGBTQ Laws

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — State-funded travel will be banned to five more states as a direct response to laws that discriminate against LGBTQ+ community members, Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Monday.

Florida, Arkansas, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia were added to a list of states to which taxpayer-funded travel is prohibited under most circumstances.

"When states discriminate against LGBTQ+ Americans, California law requires our office to take action," Bonta said in a statement. "These new additions to the state-funded travel restrictions list are about exactly that."

The list now comprises 17 states. Lawmakers formed it in 2016 to forbid travel to states that have laws that discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, according to the state.

The 12 other states on the list are Texas, Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

California passed AB 1887 in 2016 to direct state agencies to avoid "supporting or financing discrimination" and to prohibit travel to any state that enacted a law authorizing or repealing protections against discrimination aimed at the LGBTQ community.

There are some exceptions, such as travel conducted to enforce California law or to honor contracts that were signed before the list was updated. But the travel ban applies for events such as out-of-state conferences.

"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," Bonta said.

Florida, Montana, Arkansas and West Virginia will be added to the state's restrictive list after they enacted laws that prevent transgender women and girls from participating in school sports that align with their gender identity. In Florida, that bill was signed into law on the first day of Pride Month.

North Dakota signed a bill into law that will allow certain publicly funded student organizations to restrict LGBTQ students from joining without losing funding.

Arkansas leaders passed a law that prohibits physicians from providing gender-affirming health care to transgender minors — the first law of its kind in the U.S. That prohibition stands irrespective of parental wishes or a physician's determination that such care is medically necessary.

The Arkansas lawmakers "would rather demonize trans youth than focus on solving real issues like tackling gun violence, beating back this pandemic and rebuilding our economy," Bonta said.

It remains to be seen how many state agencies will stop sending state employees to the listed states or what the financial effect will be.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.