HB2 replacement not enough for New York governor to lift travel ban to NC
The House Bill 2 replacement the N.C. General Assembly passed isn’t enough for New York.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reaffirmed his state’s ban on taxpayer-funded travel to North Carolina on Wednesday.
“In New York, we believe that all people – regardless of their gender identity or sexual orientation – deserve the same rights and protections under the law,” Cuomo said in a statement. “From Stonewall to marriage equality, our state has been a beacon of hope and equality for the LGBT community, and we will not stand idly by as misguided legislation replicates the discrimination of the past. As long as there is a law in North Carolina that creates the grounds for discrimination against LGBT people, I am barring non-essential state travel to that state.”
The executive order also requires all New York State agencies, departments, boards and commissions to immediately review requests for state-funded or state-sponsored travel to North Carolina and bar any publicly funded travel that is not essential to the enforcement of state law or public health and safety.
In March, the state legislature’s Republican leadership and Gov. Roy Cooper compromised on a repeal and replacement of HB2, which required people to use government restrooms that conformed to the gender on their birth certificate and eliminated local ordinances that protected people based on sexual orientation.
The new measure, House Bill 142, still restricts anti-discrimination ordinances in cities and counties and has been condemned by some advocacy groups that said it did not go far enough to protect the rights of LGBTQ people.
New York is joined by a chorus of other states and cities also continuing travel bans against North Carolina, including Washington; California; Minnesota; Chicago; New York City; Washington, DC; San Francisco; Seattle; Portland, Ore.; Atlanta; Baltimore; Burlington, Vt.; Los Angeles; Oakland; Santa Fe; Cincinnati; Salt Lake City; Palm Springs, Calif.; West Palm Beach; Portland, Maine, and Wilton Manors, Fla.
In 2015, Cuomo banned non-essential state travel to Indiana after that state’s legislature passed a controversial religious freedom measure that did not prohibit discrimination against LGBT citizens. The Indiana measure was later amended to prevent it from being used to discriminate against LGBT residents and travelers in Indiana, and that travel ban was lifted.
This story was originally published May 3, 2017 at 7:07 PM with the headline "HB2 replacement not enough for New York governor to lift travel ban to NC."