California’s ban on publicly funded travel to states with laws deemed discriminatory against LGBTQ individuals has been lifted following the signing of legislation by Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday.
Senate Bill 447, also referred to as the BRIDGE Project, formally repeals a 2016 California law that had prohibited state-sponsored travel to states with discriminatory laws based on “sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.”
The original law had imposed restrictions on state employees, including university faculty and elected officials, preventing them from traveling to more than half of the United States, as 26 states were affected by California’s ban when the BRIDGE Project was initially passed.