San Jose Council Says No More Travel To North Carolina, Mississippi

SAN JOSE - Under a resolution passed Tuesday by San Jose's City Council, city workers can't travel to two states that have controversial laws against people based on their sexual orientation.

The San Jose City Council approved by a 9-1 vote a ban on any nonessential travel in North Carolina and Mississippi until the states change their policies that impact the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.

"This is something we've got to take a stand on. It's a violation of civil rights," Vice Mayor Rose Herrera said. "The rules are set out to create a separate and unequal system for LGBT people," Herrera said.

City Councilman Pierluigi Oliverio cast a no vote and Councilman Manh Nguyen didn't cast a vote.

City Councilman Johnny Khamis supported the resolution but prior to the vote said the policy isn't being treated "evenhandedly." Khamis pointed out that the city doesn't have travel bans on 27 states that aren't taking in Syrian refugees or countries that violate human rights.

In late March, North Carolina passed House Bill 2 that requires transgender people to use a bathroom under the gender listed on their birth certificate and stops local governments from passing any anti-discrimination laws that shield the LGBT community.

Mississippi's "Protecting Freedom of Conscience from Government Discrimination Act" became a law in early April that protects government employees, businesses and faith groups that discriminate others based on their sexual or gender orientation or marriage.

San Francisco has passed similar bans on travel paid through public funds, along with other major cities including Los Angeles, Seattle, Baltimore, and the state of New York.

-Bay City News, image of Charlotte, NC skyline via Riction and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.