DC mayor bans official travel to North Carolina

Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) has banned city employees from official travel to North Carolina, joining officials in other states that are prohibiting travel in protest of North Carolina’s recent legislation, which has been criticized by LGBT advocates.

{mosads}In an order dated March 31, Bowser said that “no officer or employee of the District of Columbia is authorized to approve any official travel to North Carolina” until the legislation is repealed or amended with anti-discrimination provisions. 

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed a bill in March aimed at preventing cities and counties from enacting their own anti-discrimination ordinances and mandates that transgender residents use public restrooms corresponding to their biological sex.

LGBT activists filed a lawsuit earlier this week calling the law discriminatory, and leaders in states including Washington, Vermont and New York have moved to ban official travel to North Carolina in protest of the law.