The UK Foreign Office has changed its travel advice for North Carolina and Mississippi to warn LGBT tourists of the dangers of visiting the two states after both introduced laws described by campaigners as “anti-gay”.

Posted on the official government website on Tuesday, the updated travel advice states: “The US is an extremely diverse society and attitudes towards LGBT people differ hugely across the country.

“LGBT travellers may be affected by legislation passed recently in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi. Before travelling please read our general travel advice for the LGBT community. You can find more detail on LGBT issues in the US on the website of the Human Rights Campaign.”

Ty Cobb, director of US-based Human Rights Campaign Global, said it was “frightening and embarrassing” that the UK has warned its citizens of the risks of travelling to two southern states.

House Bill 2 (HB2) was passed by North Carolina’s government in March, overturning a city ordinance that sought to extend rights to the LGBT community, including allowing transgender residents to use the bathroom of the sex they identified with.



HB2, signed into law by the governor Pat McCrory, blocks local governments from enacting laws with anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people, and requires transgender people to use bathrooms that match with their biological sex, even if doing so violates their gender identity. The American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of North Carolina, Lambda Legal and Equality North Carolina have brought a legal challenge in federal court against the law.

The move has already had an economic impact on North Carolina, according to Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau, which promotes tourism in the area. It said $2.4m (£1.6m) in lost business was reported last week, up from $732,000 a week before. By Monday, the total losses were about $3.1m.

Wake County, the second-largest county in North Carolina, has been particularly hit by the new law, as it is home to the PNC arena in Raleigh. The losses will probably continue to increase as Pearl Jam cancelled a concert that was supposed to have taken place there on Wednesday.



“The HB2 law that was recently passed is a despicable piece of legislation that encourages discrimination against an entire group of American citizens,” the band said in a handwritten statement posted on its Facebook page. “We want America to be a place where no one can be turned away from a business because of who they love or fired from their job for who they are.”



Ringo Starr, Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen and Cirque du Soleil have also cancelled their performances in North Carolina in protest at the law. Additionally, PayPal has cancelled its plans to open a new operation centre in Charlotte that was expected to create about 400 jobs. Deutsche Bank, too, has ditched its expansion plans within the state, which were expected to create about 250 new jobs at its location in Cary, North Carolina.

In Mississippi, critics say the Religious Liberty Accommodations Act (HB 1523) would allow almost any person or organisation to use religion to justify discrimination against LGBT Mississippians at work, at school and in their communities.