LOS ANGELES COUNTY (KTLA) — The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted unanimously to suspend all official travel to Texas and Florida over the states’ controversial LGBTQ policies.
The motion by Supervisors Sheila Kuehl and Hilda Solis would only affect travel for the conduct of county business that is paid for with taxpayer money.
“As we’ve done in the past where states have enacted some egregious laws that contravene everything that we have done in L.A. County and in California, this motion calls for a travel ban on all travel to these states,” L.A. County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said in Tuesday’s meeting.
“We’re not gonna spend our money going to your states and it sends a message that we won’t support this egregious behavior,” Kuehl said of the motion.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently signed a bill into law that forbids instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, a policy that has been dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” law.
Public backlash began quickly after the bill was introduced, with celebrities speaking out against it on social media and Florida students staging protests and walkouts. Critics argue that the law marginalizes LGBTQ people and that the law’s language could be interpreted in a way that leads to teachers completely avoiding the subjects.
In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott signed an order instructing the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services to investigate the parents of transgender teens for child abuse. The order came after the state’s Attorney General said gender-affirming treatments and procedures for children are a form of child abuse, CNN reported.
A judge in Texas later issued a temporary injunction, blocking the state from enforcing the order.
The Texas order also received immediate backlash, with LGBTQ advocates saying it endangers families of transgender youth.
Kuehl called the order in Texas “discriminatory, harmful and deliberately cruel.”
Solis also echoed Kuehl’s remarks.
“I too come from a family that has parents whose children are LGBTQ, and I know what it was for them to raise their children and even to talk amongst our own larger family, and how important it is to support each other and in particularly these young people who are trying to live out their their best in life,” Solis said.
Los Angeles County’s order suspends travel to the two states “unless the Chief Executive Officer determines that the failure to authorize such travel would seriously harm the County’s interests.”
The ban can be lifted when either of the bills or orders are suspended, the motion states.
