Calif. adds Iowa to ‘No Travel’ list…due to transgender issues

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

California made another addition to its moral grandstanding inventory of states on its no-travel list due to alleged LGBTQ discrimination.

California’s Attorney General, Xavier Becerra announced last week that Iowa will join 10 other states on the list of locations banned from state-funded or endorsed travel.

“The Iowa Legislature has reversed course on what was settled law under the Iowa Civil Rights Act, repealing protections for those seeking gender-affirming healthcare,” Becerra said in a statement, referring to the bill signed by Iowa’s Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds which banned the use of Medicaid funds for gender transition surgeries.

“California has taken an unambiguous stand against discrimination and government actions that would enable it,” Becerra said.

Assembly Bill 1887 was passed by the California Legislature in 2016 and signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown, a Democrat. It prohibited taxpayer-funded travel by any public employee or student at a state-run university to any states that enacted laws that violate or repeal discrimination protections.

Public colleges are also prohibited by the law from participating in events on the no-travel list which already includes 10 right-leaning states such as Texas, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Mississippi and Kentucky. Some of the state’s sports teams have resorted to seeking out private funding due to the law’s restrictions, according to The Los Angeles Times.

In a ruling back in March, the Iowa Supreme Court held that taxpayers could be required to pay for gender reassignment surgery through Medicaid funding, something the governor disagreed with enough to sign the legislation two months later banning the use of the funds.

“This narrow provision simply clarifies that Iowa’s Civil Rights Act does not require taxpayer dollars to pay for sex reassignment and other similar surgeries,” Pat Garrett, a spokesman for Reynolds, said in a statement at the time. “This returns us to what had been the state’s position for years.”

Becerra claimed the Iowa governor’s action was “legislatively repealing the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision.”

(File photo: screenshot)

“HF 766 makes it clear that coverage for individuals seeking gender-affirming care is no longer required in Iowa. As a result, it has the effect of repealing state protections against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” he said in a news release. “Iowa’s new law, HF 766, has triggered the enforcement of California’s AB 1887 protections.”

Becerra also noted in the news release that General he had “filed a motion for a preliminary injunction to block the Trump Administration’s ‘Healthcare Refusal Rule’ that would allow healthcare providers to deny care to LGBTQIA individuals on religious or moral grounds.”

California’s latest bullying move on banning Iowa will go into effect on Oct. 4.

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