OAKLAND – California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced today that California will – effective immediately – restrict state-funded travel to Georgia due to the state’s recent anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. In particular, the new law, House Bill 1084 (HB 1084), contains provisions specifically allowing the Georgia High School Athletic Association to ban transgender girls from participating in interscholastic girls’ sports. The new restrictions on government-funded travel to Georgia, announced today, are mandated by California Assembly Bill 1887 (AB 1887), passed in 2016.
“The ban on transgender youth from playing sports is not only discriminatory, it’s government overreach — and it’s happening in states across the country,” Attorney General Bonta said. “Instead of protecting personal liberties, state legislatures are doing everything they can to invent a problem and target children’s rights. It is a gross misuse of public funds. California refuses to participate. Under AB 1887, we are restricting federally funded travel to Georgia under Gov. Kemp’s new transphobic law, HB 1084.”
With the passage of AB 1887, the California Legislature made it clear that it is the state of California policy to avoid supporting or funding discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender Americans. To that end, the law restricts any state agency, department, board, or commission from authorizing state-funded travel to a state that has enacted — after June 26, 2015 — a law authorizing or repealing existing protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. Each California Competent Authority is responsible for consulting the AB 1887 list maintained by the California Department of Justice to comply with travel and funding restrictions mandated by law.
The passage of HB 1084 in Georgia is part of a recent, dangerous wave of discriminatory new laws being signed into states across the country, working squarely to reverse hard-won protections. Many of these laws specifically target and marginalize transgender youth by preventing them from playing sports consistent with their gender identity. HB 1084 repeals existing protections for transgender youth and requires all Georgia public high schools involved in interscholastic athletics to adhere to Georgia High School Association guidelines on gender participation. Shortly after the passage of HB 1084, the club amended its bylaws, as authorized by HB 1084, to specifically bar transgender youth from participating in sports consistent with their gender identity. Given the effective date of HB 1084, California’s federally funded travel restrictions under AB 1887 are effective immediately.
For more information on AB 1887, including the list of states subject to its provisions, visit: https://oag.ca.gov/ab1887. The California Department of Justice recently announced the addition of four more states to the list of state-sponsored travel restrictions. Of those states, only Arizona has yet to be officially added to the list, and travel restrictions to Arizona are currently scheduled to take effect on September 28, 2022.
