(Sacramento, CA) -- California is restricting official travel to North Dakota and four other states because of their transgender laws. Attorney General Rob Bonta announced that California will ban taxpayer-funded travel to not only North Dakota, but also Arkansas, Florida, Montana, and West Virginia because those states have placed restrictions on transgender athletes who want to play sports. Altogether, California now has 17 states on the prohibited list. The California ban stems from a 2016 law designed to push back against discrimination.
From the California Attorney General Website
North Dakota
North Dakota is being added to California’s state-funded travel restrictions list as a result of House Bill 1503. Signed into law on April 16, House Bill 1503, among other things, repeals existing protections at some North Dakota public universities by permitting certain publicly-funded student organizations to openly discriminate against LGBTQ+ students by restricting participation in those organizations. It also limits the ability of universities and colleges to sanction or discipline student-on-student harassment. Given the effective date for the new law, North Dakota, pursuant to AB 1887, will be added to California’s travel restrictions list on August 1, 2021.
