New York, Vermont and Washington ban official travel to Mississippi over anti-LGBT laws
State officials lose the respect of their contemporaries
New York, Vermont and Washington have banned official state-funded travel to Mississippi following the enactment of an anti-LGBT law.
The District of Columbia is also planning to implement a ban, the Associated Press reports. The city’s mayor has already banned travel to North Carolina who implemented a similar legislation.
The travel bans were all issued on Tuesday following Governor Phil Bryant’s decision to sign House Bill 1523, legislation that allows businesses to turn away same-sex couples or transgender people.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo condemned the bill as a “sad, hateful injustice against LGBT community.”
“Discrimination is not a New York value. We believe our diversity is our greatest strength, and we will continue to reject the politics of division and exclusion,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement.
“This Mississippi law is a sad, hateful injustice against the LGBT community, and I will not allow any non-essential official travel to that state until it is repealed.”