On Monday, California's attorney general announced that state employees are banned from state-sponsored travel to Florida and four more states because of laws considered discriminatory by the state of California against trans athletes wanting to compete in female sports.
According to The Blaze, Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta restricted state-funded travel to a list of 17 U.S. states, with the recent inclusion of Arkansas, Florida, Montana, North Dakota and West Virginia.
"When states discriminate against LGBTQ+ Americans, California law requires our office to take action," Bonta said. "These new additions to the state-funded travel restrictions list are about exactly that. It's been 52 years to the day since the Stonewall Riots began, but that same fight remains all too alive and well in this country. Rather than focusing on solving real issues, some politicians think it's in their best interest to demonize trans youth and block life-saving care," he argued.
"Make no mistake: We're in the midst of an unprecedented wave of bigotry and discrimination in this country — and the State of California is not going to support it," he argued.
Bonda claimed that women's sports bills "demonize trans youth and block life-saving care," preventing trans-identifying biological males from competing in female sports.
In 2016, California lawmakers banned nonessential travel to states who have adopted or considered such laws. The banned states include Alabama, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Kentucky, North Carolina, Kansas, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas.
The attorney general further criticized Arkansas legislators for passing a law banning transgender surgeries and cross-sex hormone prescriptions for minors and North Dakota lawmakers for enacting a law allowing publicly funded student organizations, such as a religious group, to prohibit LGBTQ+ students from joining.
In response to the announcement, the office of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized California and Sacramento politicians for failing to defend women's rights.
"Congratulations to California for somehow managing to create a new way to politicize its bureaucracy," DeSantis' press secretary Christina Pushaw said.
"The bill Governor DeSantis signed is not discriminatory; in fact, it's the opposite — the legislation ensures that women's sports remain fair," she asserted. "On the contrary, allowing biological males to compete in women's sports is discriminatory because it puts girls and women at a disadvantage based on immutable, innate characteristics."
She continued, "It is disappointing that the politicians calling the shots in Sacramento are not willing to stand up for women and girls in California."
Regardless of the state travel ban, Pushaw assured that Californians will continue to be welcomed to the Sunshine State, whether it's for tourism or in seeking to become new residents.
"In fact, I am originally from California myself — but I am thrilled to live in Florida now because progressive dogma has turned my home state into a nightmare of crime, unemployment, closed schools, failing businesses, and high taxes," she said. "I respectfully suggest that California's government focus on fixing the problems in their own state instead of worrying about Florida."
Photo courtesy: Anisa Ryanda Putri/Unsplash
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
