Mayor Announces Ban on City Travel to Mississippi After Anti-LGBT Law Signed

SAN FRANCISCO, CA: San Francisco taxpayers will no longer pay for city employees to travel to Mississippi after the state's governor signed a law allowing discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals, Mayor Ed Lee announced Wednesday.

Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant on Tuesday signed a law called the "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act" that provides legal protection for government employees, businesses and faith-based groups to discriminate on the basis of sexual or gender orientation or marital status. Among other things, the act allows government employees to refuse to issue marriage licenses or perform marriage ceremonies, and could allow businesses and faith-based groups to deny housing, jobs and adoption and foster-care services to people based on their sexual orientation.

Lee Wednesday said the law "undermines all of our civil liberties."

"Enough is enough," Lee said in a statement. "I believe strongly that we should add more protections to prevent discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in the United States, not diminish them and deny people their constitutional rights."

Lee said he is directing all city departments to bar any publicly-funded city employee travel to Mississippi unless it is absolutely essential to public health and safety. In addition, he said he's in talks with other mayors about ways to apply "even greater economic and political pressure."

The mayor announced a similar travel ban last week on North Carolina, after Gov. Pat McCrory signed legislation prohibiting local governments from passing anti-discrimination laws protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The legislation also requires transgender people to use the restroom indicated by the gender on their birth certificates. The legislative moves in both states have drawn an immediate backlash from business groups.

Related:

San Francisco Mayor Says No City-Funded Travel to North Carolina; Major Companies Denounce Anti-LGBT Law

On Tuesday, San Jose-based Paypal announced it was dropping plans to open a new global operations center in Charlotte, North Carolina that would have brought 400 skilled jobs to the state. Governors in other states, including Georgia and Virginia, have vetoed similar legislation in recent weeks due in part to business pressure.

By Bay City News

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