Written by Amanda Angulo
Due to the fact that the Democrats wanted to get their point across with a law they passed five years ago, banning travel to states that allowed businesses to deny their services to gay and transgender people, there is now a total of 18 states that California has banned state-funded travel to.
Additionally, it just so happened to be that those 18 states are also states that casted their ballots for Trump in the last presidential election, 2020. The most recent addition to the list was late in September. Attorney General Rob Bonta declared a ban on state-funded travel to Ohio due to their new law, allowing for doctors to deny care to patients based on their religious beliefs.
The whole reason why the State of California passed their travel ban law was to put pressure on conservative states to not pass anti-LGBT, yet most of these states continued on with their laws and now California’s ban list is growing.
North Carolina got a spot on the list after their lawmakers passed a law that prohibits transgender people from using the bathroom of their gender identity. Although North Carolina repealed the law, it still remains in California’s ban list.
It’s not just Ohio and North Carolina, but it’s also Idaho, Montana, North and South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina, Kentucky, and West Virginia.
As for those who are affected, college sports may or may not be able to play with banned states, depending on their financials. The University of California released a statement in which it states that it “remains committed to promoting principles of equity and inclusion, and has been implementing AB 1887 in good faith by prohibiting the use of state funds to support travel to banned states.”
However the California State University system only commented on how they were aware of the addition of Ohio to the list. San Diego State University falls under this system, meaning that the football team could possibly be affected by a change in the opponents.
Photo Cred: Noah Berger Associate Press
