The ban was passed into law in 2016 following , which required them to use public restrooms that correspond with their sex assigned at birth. It applies to state-funded travel for conferences, research trips and athletic competitions for teams at public universities.
California鈥檚 travel ban initially applied to four states 鈥� including North Carolina 鈥� but in the seven years since has and led lawmakers to question its efficacy.
鈥淚 think we find that it isolates us from being able to be present, be visible and show examples of inclusivity and success,鈥� said Senate President pro Tempore Toni Atkins, who is authoring a bill to repeal the travel ban.
Atkins, a San Diego Democrat, is the first lesbian to lead the California Assembly and Senate and grew up in religious rural Virginia. Her Senate Bill 447 would create a donation-driven outreach campaign to 鈥渆ncourage acceptance and understanding鈥� toward LGBTQ communities in more conservative states.
鈥淚t really is personal relationships, direct communication and contact that change hearts and minds. I know that; it changed my parents,鈥� in June. 鈥淚t is about building bridges. But we can only do that if we鈥檙e able to be there.鈥�
Has the ban been effective?
Little research has been done into the effects of state-funded travel bans and tourism officials say it鈥檚 hard to measure their exact impacts.
The ban has made it more difficult for academics to go to prohibited states to study or present their findings.
Soon after the law took effect in 2017, San Francisco State University history professor Marc Stein traveled to North Carolina to research a transgender woman and sex worker who was sentenced to prison in 1962.
鈥淚 needed to go to North Carolina to do that research,鈥� Stein said in an interview. 鈥淚 planned to do it before the ban was in effect. When I applied for reimbursement on my return, the foundation that holds my research funds put a stop on payment based on the policy.鈥�
Stein was able to successfully appeal because he had booked the trip before the law took effect. He also found a workaround for more recent travel since his research fund is held by a university-affiliated corporation, not the university itself.
鈥淏ut colleagues working on other issues don鈥檛 have access to those kinds of funds,鈥� he said.
Stein believes the travel ban ends up limiting the topics graduate students pick to study. He noted there would be fewer obstacles for a research trip on a California-based topic than for something like the Tulsa race riots or Florida鈥檚 anti-gay Johns Committees from the 1950s.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen the absence of dozens or hundreds of individual stories 鈥� because I think people then just choose different [research] topics,鈥� he said.
Despite that, Stein is not getting behind Sen. Atkins鈥� proposal to repeal the ban and instead called for a social justice research or higher education carveouts.
鈥淚 think it sends an unfortunate message that the arguments that are coming at us from Florida and Texas are working and that we need to change our value-based policies because of economic costs,鈥� he said.
Stein acknowledged California鈥檚 travel ban has not deterred other states from passing laws targeting members of the LGBTQ community, but said that鈥檚 not the only way to measure success.
He believes boycotts can be effective tools to influence state policy and cautioned against ending the law.
鈥淭hese things take a long time,鈥� he said, noting professional conferences are often planned years in advance. 鈥淪o I don't think we've given the policy enough time to work at that level.鈥�
The impact in the state that inspired California鈥檚 travel ban
California passed the travel ban to put economic pressure on states that pass discriminatory laws. The ever-expanding list shows it鈥檚 not enough of a deterrent.
But it has been effective in another way.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely had an impact on the state 鈥� a negative impact,鈥� said Wit Tuttell, executive director of Visit North Carolina, the state鈥檚 tourism bureau.
Tuttell said some college athletic teams from California would book hotels in Virginia for competitions taking place in North Carolina to get around the travel ban.
An Associated Press analysis estimated the , the law targeting transgender people that inspired California鈥檚 travel ban in the first place, to be $3.76 billion. But that estimate included film, concert and corporate boycotts.
Tuttell said his state has lost opportunities to bid on conferences or other events, but that it鈥檚 鈥渋mpossible鈥� to measure the exact economic impact of the ban.
鈥淚t's one thing if an organization is looking to host a convention here and they tell us, 鈥榟ey, we're not hosting it here because of this travel ban.鈥� But what you don鈥檛 know is how many meetings didn鈥檛 even consider you because of it,鈥� Tuttell said.
The tourism official also pointed out House Bill 2 and that North Carolina鈥檚 Democratic governor targeting transgender individuals.
Despite that political shift, North Carolina remains on California鈥檚 list of prohibited places for state-funded travel.
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