SACRAMENTO >> California has its own travel ban. The new law took effect in January, banning state employees and officials from using tax money to go to states with laws it deemed discriminatory in regards to gender identity or sexual orientation — starting with Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee.
On Thursday, Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced that the list had doubled. It now includes Alabama, Kentucky, South Dakota and Texas.
“Our country has made great strides in dismantling prejudicial laws that have deprived too many of our fellow Americans of their precious rights,” Becerra said in a news release. “Sadly, that is not the case in all parts of our nation, even in the 21st Century.
Three of the four new states recently moved to protect faith-based adoption or foster agencies who refuse to place children with certain families, such as same-sex couples. Another protects religious expression in schools, including provisions on student organizations that LGBT advocates argue could allow clubs to shun prospective members based on their gender identity.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott responded to the news with a biting rebuke, made through a spokesman, in a statement playing to his state’s noisy economic rivalry with the Golden State.
“California may be able to stop their state employees, but they can’t stop all the businesses that are fleeing over taxation and regulation and relocating to Texas,” Abbott spokesman John Wittman told CBS Dallas.
The ban includes some exceptions, such as travel for law enforcement. And public university sports teams will not be forced to cancel previously signed contracts; for instance, this fall UCLA Bruins have a football game in Tennessee; the Cal Bears play in North Carolina and San Jose State Spartans head to the University of Texas.
The Attorney General’s Office has yet to issue an opinion on whether the ban would restrict the travel of athletic staff members from UC and CSU.
Assemblyman Evan Low, D-Campbell, leads the California Legislative LGBT Caucus and wrote Assembly Bill 1887, which created the ban. He applauded Becerra’s decision.
“AB 1887 was enacted to ensure our taxpayer dollars do not fund bigotry or hatred,” he said. “Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s action today sends a strong message that discrimination beyond our borders will not be tolerated.”
States added to California’s travel ban, and the new laws that put them on the list
ALABAMA: HB 24 allows state-funded, faith-based adoption and foster agencies to refuse to place children with same-sex couples. KENTUCKY: SB 17, a bill to protect religious expression in schools, would make it harder for school officials to regulate how student organizations select their members, which LGBT advocates argue will foster discrimination. SOUTH DAKOTA: Like Alabama’s new law, SB 149 gives legal protection to adoption and foster agencies who refuse to place children in homes with same-sex couples. TEXAS: HB 3859 also allows faith-based foster and adoption agencies, including those that are state-funded, to refuse to place children with same-sex couples.
