By Louise “Lou” Fischer–
Recently at my day job, I received an email detailing an update to Assembly Bill 1887, which enacted California’s travel ban to states that uphold anti-LGBTQ laws, or as I call them, “LGBTQ-hating Republican states.” On June 28, 2021, Attorney General Rob Bonta added more states to the current list, for a current total of 15. My first thought was, “It doesn’t affect me. I never leave the state for work, but yay, AG Bonta, go get ‘em!” Then I wondered how badly a state has to behave to be told by California, “You are the axis of evil and therefore are not getting any shekels from our taxpayers.”
Assembly Bill 1887, approved in 2016, prohibits employees from state agencies from traveling to any state that has enacted a law that discriminates on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. It was approved in response to North Carolina’s House Bill 2, or “bathroom bill,” which prevented transgender people from using bathrooms that aligned with their gender identity.
Thankfully, the bill in NC went down in flames. The NCAA and NBA moved tournaments in acts of protest, performers refused to play in the state, and the economic damage was so dire that the state’s Republican governor was defeated by Democrat Roy Cooper. However, CA’s ban was not rescinded because NC and the other states are still trying to figure out how to attack the fundamental civil rights of LGBTQ people.
Bonta’s office said there have been more than 250 “anti-LGBTQ+ bills” introduced in other state legislatures, including more than 95 that discriminate against transgender people. So, until these states learn to be fairer and more tolerant (maybe start by not making such a big deal about a song parody by the SF Gay Men’s chorus referenced in this issue of the Bay Times), the banned states will have to stand in the corner and think about what they’ve done until they are ready to behave themselves and stop their bigoted assaults on the LGBTQ.
The latest winners of the “AB 1887 discrimination sweepstakes” include Florida, Montana, and West Virginia. The previous anti-gay gaggle of states are: Alabama, South Carolina, Idaho (I miss the potatoes), Iowa (I gave up corn), Kansas (no one goes there anyhow), Kentucky (I do miss the bourbon), Mississippi (do not try to marry a member of your same gender, adopt a child, or change your gender assigned at birth because the Legislature has deemed your sex at birth to be immutable, in fact, if you are LGBTQ, just leave the state now and move to one of the others that are not banned by CA), North Carolina (where it all began), Oklahoma (never liked the musical, Rodgers and Hammerstein could have done better), South Dakota (Governor Kristi Noem, Trump acolyte, runs the place; need I say more?), Tennessee (Nashville, Music City … sigh), and Texas (you’re just mad because you recruited California companies to move there and now the employees of said companies are turning your state Blue; joke’s on you!).
That said, we’re not indifferent to the suffering of others. While activities such as conferences or workshops are prohibited, assisting with disasters is not. So yeah, Florida, even though you discriminate against us, we’re still sending our first responders to help you recover from hurricanes and collapsed buildings. Some of the disaster workers are LGBTQ, so you might want to reconsider the laws you are trying to pass, because next time you need help, we might be too busy dealing with our own wildfires, earthquakes, floods, and mudslides and won’t be able to take your call.
Some crybaby states are pushing back because they haven’t figured out the difference between victim and perpetrator (note to banned states—you are the perpetrators). In 2017, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a resolution complaining about California’s “unfounded moral judgment” (as if TN is the great bastion of morality, sheesh) and maintained that the 10th Amendment of the Constitution grants the states sovereignty in addressing issues solely within their jurisdiction, and that other states should respect this basic precept of American government. Hey, Tennessee, read a little further; the 14th Amendment, Equal Protection Clause, says “… nor shall any State … deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Hang on to those stones, TN, because you’re living in glass houses.
While the ban is largely symbolic, businesses desperately need people to support tourism and travel; conferences/conventions that depend on large numbers of public employees may have to shift their business elsewhere. Hopefully this will be enough for businesses in those states to push back against republican leadership, and if not, CA state workers will be spending more time in the other states.
Track CA’s travel prohibition list:
https://oag.ca.gov/ab1887/faq
Louise (Lou) Fischer is a Former Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of the Alice B. Toklas LGBT Democratic Club and has served as an appointed and elected Delegate for the State Democratic Party. She is a proud graduate of the Emerge California Women’s Democratic Leadership program, was a San Francisco Commissioner, and has served in leadership positions in multiple nonprofit and community-based organizations.
Published on July 15, 2021
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