Travel bans are a hot topic right now.
In a recent Facebook post, an ABC10 News viewer wrote that Governor Brown put a ban on state-funded travel to states that “don’t align with our government’s morality.” It sparked a lot of conversation on the post, so ABC10 News’s Verify team set out to find if it was true.
For the latest information, we reached out to California’s attorney general’s office.
California has banned state-funded travel to eight states, because of state laws the attorney general says are discriminatory toward people in the LGBTQ community.
Those states are: Alabama, Kentucky, South Dakota, Texas, Kansas Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee.
There are, however, exceptions. A full list can be found on the attorney general’s website. They include: travel to fulfill contracts signed before Jan. 1, 2017; participation in meetings or training required for grant funding; and protection of public health and safety.
One area is still unclear. The attorney general’s office is currently reviewing how this ban might apply to University of California and California State University athletic teams.
A spokesperson for the CSU system said there should be more guidance on the policy by the end of the week. A UC Davis spokesperson says teams don’t typically travel states on the list, and travel for athletic events is not funded with state money.
To go back to the original question, ABC10 News can verify that California does ban travel to eight states, but only having to do with those states policies that are discriminatory to LGBTQ people.