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Cuomo Bans Non-Essential State Travel To North Carolina

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo signed an executive order Monday, March 28, banning all non-essential state travel to North Carolina after the state enacted a law barring transgender individuals from using restrooms appropriate to their gender identity.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has banned all non-essential state travel to North Carolina.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has banned all non-essential state travel to North Carolina.

Photo Credit: Twitter @nygovcuomo

The order requires all New York state agencies, departments, boards and commissions to immediately review all requests for state funded or state sponsored travel to North Carolina, and bar any such publicly funded travel that is not essential to the enforcement of state law or public health and safety.

The North Carolina law also excludes sexual orientation and gender identity from state anti-discrimination protections, and prohibits municipalities from extending those protections to LGBT citizens.

“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,” said Cuomo. “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 governor’s executive order directs the folowing:

  • All agencies, departments, boards, authorities and commissions to review all requests for state funded or state sponsored travel to the state of North Carolina so long as there is law in effect there that creates the grounds for discrimination against LGBT citizens.
  • To bar any such publicly funded or publicly sponsored travel to such location, unless such travel is necessary for the enforcement of New York State law, to meet prior contractual obligations, or for the protection of public health, welfare and safety.

In 2015, Cuomo banned non-essential state travel to the state of 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.

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