County Council Calls for Travel Ban to Two States Because of Recent LGBT Legislation

County Executive Ike Leggett supports the measure, spokesperson says

By Aaron Kraut

Nancy Navarro Montgomery County Council

Montgomery County employees won’t be traveling on non-essential work-related business to North Carolina or Mississippi after those two states passed laws that some say are discriminatory toward LGBT individuals.

The County Council unanimously passed a resolution calling for the travel ban Tuesday. Patrick Lacefield, spokesperson for County Executive Ike Leggett, said Wednesday Leggett will support the request and stop official county travel to those states.

Lacefield said he wasn’t immediately sure how often county employees travel on official business to North Carolina or Mississippi.

In introducing the resolution last week, lead sponsor Nancy Navarro said the ban was more of a symbolic act to show “solidarity for those who continue fighting for equality.”

Cities including Washington, D.C., New York and San Francisco have enacted similar official travel bans to North Carolina. In March, North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory signed a law invalidating Charlotte’s LGBT anti-discrimination ordinance and similar laws in other localities, arguing the city’s ordinance could allow “for example, a man to use a woman’s bathroom, shower or locker room.”

The law has since been amended, but LGBT groups and others continue to pressure the state to do away with it completely.

Mississippi’s General Assembly passed a law earlier this year that allows business owners to refuse service to same-sex couples for religious reasons.

“Montgomery County’s strength comes from its diversity and progressive values. That’s why it is important that our tax dollars are not used in states that discriminate against individuals that are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender,” Navarro said while introducing the bill last week. “We should not be supporting jurisdictions that perpetrate hate, fear and bigotry.”

Earlier this month, District 39 state Del. Kirill Reznik wrote to PayPal CEO Dan Schulman, asking him to consider building a large operations center in Maryland after Schulman announced the company wouldn’t be opening the facility in North Carolina because of the controversial law.