Governor Andrew Cuomo Calls HB 1523 ‘Sad, Hateful Injustice Against the LGBT Community’
New York Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo has just banned all state-funded non-essential travel to Mississippi, in response to GOP Governor Phil Bryant‘s signing Tuesday an anti-LGBT law some have called the most extreme in the nation. He is the first governor to do so.
“Discrimination is not a New York value. We believe our diversity is our greatest strength, and we will continue to reject the politics of division and exclusion,â€Â Governor Cuomo said in a statement. “This Mississippi law is a sad, hateful injustice against the LGBT community, and I will not allow any non-essential official travel to that state until it is repealed.â€Â
The Governor’s statement explains his order “requires all New York State agencies, departments, boards and commissions to immediately review all requests for state funded or state sponsored travel to the state of Mississippi, and bar any such publicly funded travel that is not essential to the enforcement of state law or public health and safety.”
Just last month Gov. Cuomo was also the first governor to ban all state sponsored travel to North Carolina after GOP Gov. Pat McCrory signed an expansive anti-LGBT law as well.
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Image by Diana Robinson via Flickr and a CC license