BOSTON, Mass.—Boston City Councilor Josh Zakim decisively sided with equality when he sponsored an ordinance to ban city-sponsor travel to North Carolina last Friday. Today, the Boston City Council voted unanimously to ban tax-payer-funded travel to that state.
The ordinance comes in response to what has been called the most anti-LGBT law in the country, signed into law by North Carolina’s governor Pat McCrory. HB2, as signed by McCrory, especially affects transgender students and trans people from entering restrooms that do not coincide with their gender at birth.
“In Boston we take great pride in leading on issues of social justice and LGBTQ equality, and we have a continuing obligation to uphold this mission whenever there is an opportunity to do so,” Zakim, whose district includes Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Kenmore Square and the West End, said in a statement.
The Boston Globe reported via a city spokeswoman, that Mayor Martin J. Walsh plans to sign the measure.
Three more major cities—New York, San Francisco, and Seattle—have also banned non-essential travel to NC. New York Mayor Bill DeBlasio, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, all supported the bans. Other cities continue to add similar bans too. Similarly, West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio, became the first mayor in Florida (and the country) to place a travel ban on city-funded trips to NC.
The Rainbow Times reported yesterday that over 80+ (Apple, Facebook, Pinterest, PayPal, Twitter, Yahoo, YouTube, LinkedInLevi Strauss & Co., Airbnb, and more) CEO’s and businesses leaders are demanding North Carolina’s law to be repealed.
[Stay Tuned As This Story Continues to Unfold]
Social Media, via Twitter, respond to NC’s anti-LGBT law in support of the travel bans.
#FLORIDA TY JERI! West Palm Beach Mayor Jeri Muoio issues North Carolina travel ban in support of #LGBT https://t.co/rcYm7DVvYk via @wptv
— GRAY (@oceanshaman) March 28, 2016
#WeAreNotThis in NYC. 2 weeks ago @BilldeBlasio & NYC passed the opposite of the NC ordinance. We are ONE New York. pic.twitter.com/aHlSAAKLPC
— NYC Mayor's Office (@NYCMayorsOffice) March 24, 2016
Seattle mayor bans city worker travel to NC in wake of law preventing cities from passing anti-discrimination rules https://t.co/o2oSYyCmoR
— KING 5 News (@KING5Seattle) March 29, 2016
The Mayor of San Francisco bans city workers from traveling to North Carolina: https://t.co/7hPD0qi2nn
— Logo 🏳️🌈 (@LogoTV) March 28, 2016
#California Bill Seeks #TravelBan to States Deemed #AntiGay | #LGBT https://t.co/QzkLsW8qr8
— Tell It Like It Is! (@Jeres_Rant) March 5, 2016
