Calif. Lawmaker Wants to Ban Travel to States with Anti-LGBT 'Religious Freedom' Laws

As red states continue to introduce and pass bills that protect anti-LGBT discrimination in the name of "religious liberty," a California lawmaker has introduced legislation that would restrict taxpayer funded travel to those states, McClatchy DC reports.

Assembly Bill 1887, which was introduced in February by California State Assemblyman Evan Low, a Democrat from Campbell, seeks to prohibit state employees from travel to states that have "a law in effect that sanctions or requires discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression."

Time reports Low said he doesn't know which states his bill would apply to. He said it would not cover lawmakers and political trips but would affect administrative travel.

McClatchy notes that according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 21 states have enacted so-called "religious freedom" laws. Most are conservative (Arizona, Idaho, New Mexico) or in the Bible Belt (the Gulf Coast, up through Tennessee, Kentucky and Virginia).