Public Radio for the Piedmont and High Country
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

California Keeps Travel Ban Despite 'Bathroom Bill' Repeal

(Credit: Sean Bueter/WFDD)

California will keep a North Carolina travel ban in place despite the recent repeal of House Bill 2.

California's attorney general says North Carolina's repeal of HB2 doesn't protect LGBT people from discrimination. Consequently, he says the country's most-populous state will continue its ban on taxpayer-funded travel to North Carolina.

Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the decision in a statement Wednesday.

A California law went into effect in January barring state-funded travel or other spending in states with laws that discriminate against LGBT people. The law leaves it up to Becerra to keep a list of which states are banned.

Gay rights groups argue North Carolina's repeal of House Bill 2 is inadequate because it bars local governments from passing nondiscrimination ordinances covering sexual orientation and gender identity until December 2020.

California also bans taxpayer-funded travel to Kansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

Support quality journalism, like the story above,
with your gift right now.

Donate