The State of Ca will now ban public employees and students from traveling to Iowa while either conducting official state business or participating in scholastic events.
Iowa now joins the following list of states CA has “restricted the use of State General Funds to pay for travel costs to states that have laws that discriminate based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression, or to states that have passed a law repealing such protections.”
List of states on CA’s current travel ban:
- Alabama
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Mississippi
- North Carolina
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
According to The Sacramento Bee, California added Iowa to the ‘travel ban’ list “based on the Midwestern state’s passage of a law that removed gender protections under Medicaid.”
Twelve years ago, Iowa’s Legislature made gender identity a protected characteristic under its Civil Rights Act.
Since then, “Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill banning Medicaid spending on the surgeries.”
California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra said in a press release:
“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. California has taken an unambiguous stand against discrimination and government actions that would enable it.”
