L.A. County votes to ban official travel to Florida, Texas over LGBTQ policies

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to droop all official journey to Texas and Florida over the states’ controversial LGBTQ insurance policies.

The movement by Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Hilda Solis would solely have an effect on journey for the conduct of county enterprise that’s paid for with taxpayer cash.

“As we’ve executed previously the place states have enacted some egregious legal guidelines that contravene the whole lot that now we have executed in L.A. County and in California, this movement requires a journey ban on all journey to those states,” L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl mentioned in Tuesday’s assembly.

“We’re not gonna spend our cash going to your states and it sends a message that we gained’t assist this egregious habits,” Kuehl mentioned of the movement.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis not too long ago signed a invoice into legislation that forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender id in kindergarten by way of third grade, a coverage that has been dubbed the “Don’t Say Homosexual” legislation.

Public backlash started rapidly after the invoice was launched, with celebrities talking out in opposition to it on social media and Florida college students staging protests and walkouts.

Critics argue that the legislation marginalizes LGBTQ individuals and that the legislation’s language might be interpreted in a manner that results in academics utterly avoiding the themes.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott signed an order instructing the state’s Division of Household and Protecting Providers to research the mother and father of transgender teenagers for youngster abuse.

The order got here after the state’s Lawyer Common mentioned gender-affirming remedies and procedures for kids are a type of youngster abuse, CNN reported.

A decide in Texas later issued a short lived injunction, blocking the state from implementing the order.

The Texas order additionally obtained rapid backlash, with LGBTQ advocates saying it endangers households of transgender youth.

Kuehl referred to as the order in Texas “discriminatory, dangerous and intentionally merciless.”

Solis additionally echoed Kuehl’s remarks.

“I too come from a household that has mother and father whose kids are LGBTQ, and I do know what it was for them to lift their kids and even to speak amongst our personal bigger household, and the way necessary it’s to assist one another and in notably these younger people who find themselves attempting to reside out their their greatest in life,” Solis mentioned.

L.A. County’s order suspends journey to the 2 states “except the Chief Govt Officer determines that the failure to authorize such journey would severely hurt the County’s pursuits.”

The ban will be lifted when both of the payments or orders are suspended, the movement states.