California may soon lift a ban on state-funded travel to states with anti-LGBTQ+ laws and instead focus on an advertising campaign to bring anti-discrimination messages to red states.

California started banning official travel to states with laws it deemed discriminatory against LGBTQ+ people in 2017, starting with Kansas, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee. Since then, the list has grown to include a total of 26 states, most of them Republican-led, following a surge of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation these past few years.

The prohibition has prevented elected officials, state workers and university scholars from traveling to more than half of the country using the state’s money. That has posed a significant challenge to sports teams at public colleges and universities, which have had to find alternative funding sources to pay for their road games in states like Arizona and Utah. It has also complicated some of the state’s other policy goals, like using state money to pay for people who live in other states to travel to California for abortions.

California lawmakers in the state Assembly on Monday passed legislation to end the travel ban. The bill, introduced by state Senate leader Toni Atkins, would also establish an outreach and advertising campaign in states on the travel ban list to promote pro-LGBTQ+ messages. Atkins, who is a lesbian, said the travel ban has helped raise awareness about many anti-LGBTQ+ issues, but it has also led to unintended consequences.

  • DreamButt@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Feel like the intent was right but they need to mulligan this idea. It’s probably better to provide people incentives to leave those states and otherwise make strong arm policies against providing aid to the governments of those states.

    • bobman@unilem.org
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      1 year ago

      It’s probably better to provide people incentives to leave those states

      I think it’s better to convince the people in those states to vote for better policies.

      • DreamButt@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I have faimly in at least three of those states… it’s funny you think that A) they’re going to vote at all and B) that they vote based on information and facts. But also yes we need to empower people

      • Burn_The_Right@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        You are giving conservatives way too much credit. You cannot convince a conservative to just start being a human. It’s just not in them to be human.