Taxpayer Tab for Travel to Anti-Gay States? California, San Francisco Just Say No

The state of California and the city of San Francisco this week both banned taxpayer-funded travel to states with anti-LGBT laws.

The bans are a reaction to the transphobic and homophobic laws various states have passed over the last year, most notoriously the state of North Carolina, which continues to be boycotted due to its House Bill 2 that restricts cities in the state from enacting local non-discrimination laws and requires transgender people to use public restrooms based on the gender they were assigned at birth.

Tuesday afternoon, September 27, Governor Jerry Brown announced he had signed into law Assembly Bill 1887, legislation authored by gay Assemblyman Evan Low (D-Campbell) that prohibits state-funded travel to any state with a law in effect that sanctions or requires discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

"The Golden State has always been a leader in protecting civil rights and preventing discrimination. I'm very pleased that Governor Brown joined me today to stand up and say we will fight back against the discriminatory policies passed in states like North Carolina and Mississippi," Low wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon, referring to a state law allowing businesses in Mississippi to refuse to serve LGBT people. "California has said clearly, our taxpayer dollars will not help fund bigotry and hatred. If other states try and pass similar laws, we will work to stop them."

Equality California, the statewide LGBT advocacy group, had co-sponsored the bill and delivered more than 4,000 letters to the governor last week that urged him to sign it.

"California has become the first state in the country to pass a law through its Legislature banning travel to states with laws that discriminate against LGBT people," said EQCA Executive Director Rick Zbur. "This new law will put the force of the world's sixth largest economy behind a strong message that bigotry against LGBT people is costly. It provides a strong disincentive to states that may be considering adopting anti-LGBT laws similar to North Carolina's HB 2."

Brown's office made the announcement without comment. The policy covers any anti-LGBT state laws adopted after June 26, 2015.

The state attorney general's office will be tasked with developing, maintaining, and posting on its website the list of states that fall under the ban. It will be up to the various state entities to ensure they are adhering to the list.

Along with government agencies, the policy also covers both the University of California and California State University systems. Travel necessary for the enforcement of California law, to meet prior contractual obligations, or for the protection of public health, welfare, or safety is exempted from the policy.

"Our zero-tolerance policy says there is no room for discrimination of any kind in California, and AB 1887 ensures that discrimination will not be tolerated beyond our borders," wrote Low.

SF adopts local travel ban

At its meeting Tuesday afternoon, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors adopted its own travel ban on a 10-0 vote, with Supervisor John Avalos absent.

Gay Supervisors Scott Wiener and David Campos, along with straight ally Supervisor Mark Farrell, co-sponsored the policy. Like the state's travel ban, anti-LGBT state laws that have been adopted since June 26, 2015 will trigger San Francisco's policy.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee had banned city-funded travel to North Carolina through executive order earlier this year after passage of HB 2. Now such travel bans will be a matter of policy going forward, as Lee is expected to sign the ordinance into law.

In June 2015 Santa Clara County was the first municipal government to adopt a travel restriction to states with anti-LGBT laws. The county board did so at the request of gay Supervisor Ken Yeager. As of late March, four states were on the county's banned list: North Carolina, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

This past spring Santa Cruz County followed suit, as did the cities of Santa Cruz and Watsonville, at the behest of the county's GLBT Alliance.

San Francisco, in addition to banning travel, will be the first to also prohibit the city from contracting with or doing business with any company based in a state with an anti-LGBT law.

"These laws are despicable and out of a different, uglier era in this country when we used to in the U.S. have many, many laws discriminating against residents of this country, and we have to take a firm stand against these laws," said Wiener, adding that "this will send a strong message as San Francisco stands firmly with our LGBT brothers and sisters throughout the country."

Wiener's office noted that city departments will be able to appeal the ban, including for public health and emergency crises, if there is only a single source that provides the service required, or for other issues that may be detrimental to the public interest.

The city administrator will be responsible for creating and maintaining the list of states that are covered. The list will be reviewed and updated biannually.

According to a news release from Wiener's office, he worked closely with Lee's staff in drafting the ordinance. The mayor is a co-founder and leader of the Mayors Against Discrimination, a coalition of mayors formed to fight laws that discriminate against LGBT people.

Lee plans to share the ordinance with the other members of the group, such as founding members Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, and gay Seattle Mayor Ed Murray.