Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton is considering joining Democratic governors from Connecticut, Washington and New York in halting state-funded travel to Indiana, given that state’s controversial religious freedom act.

“I deplore what they did,” Dayton said of the law.

Opponents see the law as allowing open discrimination against gays and lesbians. Backers say it protects believers from being forced to use their businesses in ways that are contrary to their beliefs.

The law has created a national backlash, including reaction from household names such as Target and Apple, and forced Indiana Gov. Mike Pence and the legislature in that state to promises fixes to the law.

Dayton, who signed a law legalizing same-sex marriage in Minnesota in 2012, said banning state-paid travel to Indiana is one of the options he may take.

The Minnesota governor said in an interview that state attorneys and staff are now “scrambling” to assess what consequences enacting a travel ban would have. Until he is fully informed of those, Dayton said, he will not be prepared to enact an executive order of any type, like those adopted elsewhere.

Dayton said that by week’s end, that background work should be complete and he will be able to make a decision.

Minnesota’s biggest cities also have reacted to the Indiana law.

Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman on Monday issued a joint statement condemning the Indiana law.

Hodges on Wednesday went a step further and asked the city’s fire chief to cancel plans for his staff to attend a conference in Indianapolis this month. Fire Chief John Fruetel did.

She also asked the Minneapolis City Council to ban the use of city funds for business travel to Indiana.

“Minneapolis is a welcoming, inclusive city that respects and values the contributions and the safety of everyone who lives, works, and visits here,” Hodges said in a statement.

“I don’t think we should betray Minneapolis residents’ values by spending public dollars in Indiana, or put Minneapolis public employees at risk there,” she said in the statement.

Tonya Tennessen, a spokeswoman for Coleman’s office, said the mayor had not made a similar request of the St. Paul Fire Department or city council. “He clearly believes this is a discriminatory bill and he wants to stand by that, but he’ll leave it up to individuals to decide how they want to express that,” she said.

St. Paul City Council member Dave Thune in 1990 authored the most recent version of the city’s human rights ordinance, which calls for residents to be treated equally, regardless of skin color or sexual orientation. He called the religious freedom legislation an attempt to single out homosexuals.

“I just think it’s a shame that it’s so backwards,” Thune said. “It’s very transparent — they obviously don’t have the guts to say they just want to discriminate against gay people.”

Meanwhile, Target Corp. tweeted to its 1.6 million followers late Wednesday that: “Everyone deserves to feel they belong. You’ll always be accepted, respected and welcomed here.” The tweet was accompanied by Target’s trademark bull’s-eye, the top half of which appeared in rainbow colors.

A Target webpage linked to the tweet did not pledge any action other than to assure customers: “And you’ll always be accepted, respected and welcomed here.”

Follow Rachel E. Stassen-Berger at twitter.com/rachelsb. Follow Frederick Melo at twitter.com/ FrederickMelo.