California added Florida to a list of states where state-funded travel is prohibited, largely due to the fact the states have laws that supposedly “discriminate” against LGBTQ individuals.
In 2016, the California state legislature passed Assembly Bill 1887, which allows the state’s Attorney General Rob Bonta to revoke state-funded travel to the areas if the state enacts laws that allow discrimination “on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.”
With the addition of Florida on Thursday, the list of banned states has now grown to 17.
The addition of Florida comes in response to Governor Ron DeSantis signing a law that will ban transgender athletes from participating on girls’ high-school and college sports teams. The law, which was signed on June 1, is already being challenged in federal court by the family of a 13 year old in Broward County. The lawsuit is also backed by the Human Rights Campaign organization.
“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,” California AG Bonta said in a statement announcing the addition of Florida and four other states.
After the announcement by Bonta, Governor Ron DeSantis immediately pushed back on the notion that the new law is discriminatory.
“The bill Governor DeSantis signed is not discriminatory; in fact, it’s the opposite — the legislation ensures that women’s sports remain fair. On the contrary, allowing biological males to compete in women’s sports is discriminatory, because it puts girls and women at a disadvantage based on immutable, innate characteristics,” DeSantis spokesperson Christina Pushaw said.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for the Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
