Major Cities to Retain N.C. Travel Bans After HB 2's "Compromise" Repeal

Mayors of Los Angeles, Santa Fe, and Salt Lake City plan to keep their bans on taxpayer-funded travel to North Carolina in place after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed a "compromise" bill that repealed House Bill 2 but kept a moratorium that prevents cities in the state from passing nondiscrimination ordinances until 2020, reports The Charlotte Observer.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said he plans to do “everything in my power to make sure that Angelenos’ tax dollars are never spent to support bigotry based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

“Every American deserves to live free of discrimination, and the law signed last week by Governor Cooper does nothing to protect the rights and dignity of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters,” the L.A. mayor said in a statement released by the Human Rights Campaign Monday.

“Cities should have every opportunity to make policies that affirm values of equal justice, protect people from hate and bias, and uphold the constitutional right to self-determination,” Garcetti said. “Until that is made real in North Carolina, I urge the City Council to extend L.A.’s ban on nonessential travel to the state by city employees.” The council approved the ban last April.

Santa Fe Mayor Javier González said, “North Carolina shouldn’t stand in the way of their cities who want to do the same, and until they make it right, we have no intention of changing the ban on no-essential travel that is our current policy.”

Salt Lake City Major Jackie Biskupski tweeted that the new law still "harms LGBT folks" and that her city would be keeping its travel ban in place. Cincinnati City Council member Chris Seelbach said his city will also continue to boycott North Carolina.