California has added Arkansas to its list of 17 states to which official state travel is banned except under limited circumstances on account of laws discriminating against LGBTQ people.
The Arkansas legislature would likely view this as a badge of honor.
California is banning taxpayer-funded travel to five more states as a response to a wave of new state laws that restrict transgender youth from playing sports and block access to life-saving care for members of the LGBTQ+ community, Attorney General Rob Bonta said on Monday.
The new states subject to California’s state-funded travel ban are Arkansas, Florida, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia. As of today, 17 states are subject to California travel restrictions.
California lawmakers passed the law calling for travel restrictions to certain states in 2016, casting it as a response to so-called “religious freedom” measures in GOP-led legislatures that allowed organizations to deny services to gay families, among other policies.
California Democrats say the travel law, known as Assembly 1887, prevents the state from supporting or financing laws they view as discriminatory.
I’m not sure why Arkansas wasn’t already banned. It has long protected discrimination against LGBTQ people in hiring, housing and public services under the pretext of religion. And it prevents local civil rights ordinances as well.
