LA County Board of Supervisors Votes To Suspend All Official Travel to Florida, Texas
Travel suspended due to each state’s new restrictive LGBT discrimination laws
By Evan Symon, April 8, 2022 7:03 pm
Earlier this week, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to suspend all official travel to Florida and Texas over each respective states’ restrictive LGBT policies.
The vote on Tuesday can trace the Board’s decision to actions made by California as far back as 2017. That year, the State Legislature banned non-essential state-funded travel to several states, including Texas, over new LGBT restrictive laws. Texas was included over a new state law that allowed adoption and foster agencies to deny placement to same-sex parents based on religious grounds. Texas subsequently sued and failed to end the ban in 2020. The next year, the passage of AB 1887, a new California law that directs the state to ban travel to a state because they discriminate ‘based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, brought in more state bans including Florida. Florida was specifically added due to them passing a law that prevents transgender girls who are biological males from playing on girls teams.
With California having passed bans on dozens of states and amassing years of precedent to ban travel based on LGBT discrimination, LA County proceeded to follow suit on Tuesday. Florida was chosen primarily because of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis last month signing into law what the media calls the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill. Officially known as the Parental Rights in Education Act, the now law states that “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate.”
The new law has specifically irked Disney employees and the Disney corporation, with Governor Gavin Newsom calling for all employees to return to California, many workers in Florida walking out in protest of the law, and Governor DeSantis threatening action against Disney in retaliation.
Meanwhile, Texas was also added to LA County’s ban over a February order signed by Texas Governor Greg Abbott that directs Texas Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate parents of transgender teens for child abuse because of gender confirming care. Like the Florida bill, the move sent waves of outrage among the LGBT community and supporters, with both states experiencing walkouts and massive protests.
“A lot of us have been asking for transfers back to California. And I mean a lot of us,” noted an anonymous Disney employee in Florida to the Globe on Thursday. “California is expensive and does have have a bad climate for businesses, but at least they don’t pull things like this and discriminate. I’m already talking with realtors in SoCal. With everything wrong with California, that should tell you how bad the climate is in Florida right now.”
LA County travel bans to Texas, Florida
During the LA County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, Supervisors noted that travel would only be affected for county business that is paid with taxpayer money unless it is determined that such a travel restriction would hurt the county’s interest. The travel ban can also be lifted, but only if either of the new laws in Texas and Florida are suspended.
“As we’ve done in the past where states have enacted some egregious laws that contravene everything that we have done in L.A. County and in California, this motion calls for a travel ban on all travel to these states,” said L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl. “We’re not gonna spend our money going to your states and it sends a message that we won’t support this egregious behavior. Considering the rampant rise of hate crimes and some pretty egregious conduct by jurisdictions across the country against LGBTQ+ youth and their families, this is not the time to be enacting more legislation designed to encourage more harassment and suffering.”
Supervisor Hilda Solis added that “I too come from a family that has parents whose children are LGBTQ, and I know what it was for them to raise their children and even to talk amongst our own larger family, and how important it is to support each other and in particularly these young people who are trying to live out their their best in life.”
“Florida’s law will perpetuate a culture of bullying, secrecy, shame and fear. Schools should be spaces that foster open discussion, critical thinking, meaningful engagement and the safe exploration of ideas. The implementation of this bill would create an atmosphere that stifles such a culture and stifles learning itself. The Texas order flies in the face of all that we know about best practices when it comes to supporting children and young adults to discover who they are and feel secure in their sense of self. This order is discriminatory, harmful and just plain cruel.”
Passed unanimously, the new travel ban may also be extended to other states in the future, including Ohio, which is currently considering a passing a similar version of Florida’s recently passed bill.
“The bills in Florida and Texas, now laws I guess, just wanted to keep sex education from being taught to those in lower grades and an increase of cases looking into child abuse, respectively,” explained Paul Cole, a lawyer who has assisted in local cases against LGBT oriented laws in three states, to the Globe on Thursday. “But they can also be read as going after the LGBTQ community and restricting their rights too.
“Travel bans really don’t do much. Maybe some people can’t attend a conference there or something. In this age of remote meetings, it’s not all that big. It’s used more for a symbolic gesture, and LA County Supervisors this week gave a clear message where they stand.”
It is currently unknown if any other counties in California will follow LA’s lead on travel bans.
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LA County is a complete joke, as are these snowflake Disney employees….
Grow up, all of you…
There must be something illegal about what they’re doing on a federal level. And it’s really stupid and it shows their biases more than anything else. Other states can do as they like with their laws but the ban travel based on this is like holding people hostage in the city. Does official mean just city officials state officials? Or private citizens, too? It just goes with the Democratic agenda that if you don’t agree with us you are the enemy so everyone has to suffer and be penalized. People don’t realize how many freedoms are being removed from us by democrats.
Excellent! We don’t want any more of the Commie Bastards!
What a group of complete, incompetent, embarrassing idiots. It’s no wonder L.A. is a sewer.
I am willing to bet a week’s pay (adjusted for Lyin’ Joe inflation, of course) that these same buffoons who advertise their fake virtuosity, will be photographed soon with clown mask disguises vacationing in red states, especially Florida. Because………….it’s the hypocritical thing to do and they do that best. I wonder if the L.A. County’s historic all-women group of supervisors know that they are siding with pedophiles and child sexual abusers? And why haven’t we heard the commissioners ban official travel to the PCC due to their genocidal practices, or to other countries that ban homosexuality? Right.
If Hilda Solis had her way, no one would be allowed to leave a comment here. Unless it agreed with her warped agenda. They believe in freedom of speech, just as long as what you are saying agrees with them. Listen Hilda: There is absolutely nothing discriminatory about any of these new laws! Did you even read them? So you really think it’s okay for a third grader to be taught (indoctrinated more like it) about gender identity issues? You like to get them young don’t you? Children should be protected and taught respect and tolerance for others. Not this garbage. From reading the other comments it’s reassuring to know that I am not the only one who gets it.
This should be illegal. Why screw over everyone because they don’t agree with another states laws? Why are political views being forced down our throats. I’m fling in from overseas to flordia, now I have to take many tranfers flights ( more money ) to get their. Why? I don’t care about LGBT laws. If they dont like a states laws the LGBT should not fly there! Why screw over everyone else? I hope they get sued!
They’re actually banning them because the states officials will see how nice things are outside the s hole that’s now CA that they’ll pack up and leave with the other smart people! I left 20 years ago!
The sooner people just realize and accept that democrats are commies, and nothing BUT commies, the more they’ll see how what they’ve done to the once great GOLDEN state of California and the Federal gubment for that matter makes sense… Joe McCarthy was right…