California is banning travel to more states who are banning breast removal and other surgeries on children who believe they are transgender.
California Attorney Gen. Robert Bonta issued an edict preventing employees from using state funds to travel to four more states. Issued on June 30, the ban also includes travel to states that ban biological males from competing in women’s sports.
The states included in the ban include Louisiana, Arizona, Indiana and Utah. The additional states join a long list of banned states including Kansas, Florida, Idaho, Alabama, Arkansas, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia.
READ: Tennessee bans sex-change mastectomies on children.
The travel ban applies to state agencies, departments, boards, authorities, commissions, California State University, and the University of California and its Board of Regents.
Bonta contends that states banning breast removal surgeries and other measures aimed at proteting children and women’s sports are an “attack” on transgender individuals.
“Make no mistake,” Bonta said in a release. “There is a coordinated, ongoing attack on transgender rights happening right now all across the country. Blanket legislation targeting transgender children is a ‘solution’ in search of a problem. It is detached from reality and directly undermines the well-being of our LGBTQ+ community.”
This year Arizona passed two laws signed on March 30 by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey. Senate Bill 1138 bans doctors or others in health care from providing “gender transition procedures” to anyone under 18 years old. That includes breast or penile removal.
“S.B. 1138 delays any irreversible gender reassignment surgery until the age of 18,” he said in a letter (pdf). “The reason is simple, and common sense—this is a decision that will dramatically affect the rest of an individual’s life, including the ability of that individual to become a biological parent later in life.”
Senate Bill 1165’s language bans anyone of “the male sex” from competing in sports “designated for ‘females,’ ‘women,’ or ‘girls.’”
In Indiana, the Legislature overrode the governor’s veto of House Bill 1041, which prevents biological males from participating in girls’ or women’s interscholastic sports.
Louisiana passed Senate Bill 44, which prohibits biological males from participating in female sports.
Utah passed House Bill 11 prohibiting biological males from joining female sports activities.
“I feel very comfortable with the choice California’s AG made,” Utah State Rep. Kera Birkeland, a Republican and sponsor of Utah’s House Bill 11, says. “This is not a loss for Utah, but a loss for California as Utah has a lot it can teach California.”
–Wire services