North Carolina Anti-LGBTQ Law Prompts MN State Employee Travel Ban From Gov. Dayton
By: Michael McIntee, UpTake Reporter
Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton has ordered state employees to suspend “nonessential” travel to North Carolina until the state repeals a new anti-LGBTQ law.
North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory recently signed legislation that overturned state protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and instituted a number of new restrictions on transgender people – including barring individuals from bathrooms that do not match the gender assigned on their birth certificates.
Similar legislation surrounding bathrooms has been introduced in Minnesota and Dayton vowed again today to veto it should it reach his desk.
Memo on Travel and Statement from Governor Mark Dayton
“I am proud of Minnesota for the progress we have achieved to protect the rights and dignity of all people in our state. When the rights of some Americans are threatened, it is the responsibility of all Americans to stand in opposition to those discriminatory acts. Therefore, I have instructed employees in all state agencies to refrain from traveling to North Carolina for conferences or other official state business, until the North Carolina Governor and State Legislature repeal the discriminatory law they enacted last week. “Current proposals to enshrine such measures of discrimination in our state laws are appalling, and they are wrong. I repeat my pledge to veto any similar legislation, if it reaches my desk.”