California is banning state-funded travel to South Carolina because of policies it considers discriminatory toward LGBT people.
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced the ban Tuesday.
He says a provision in the South Carolina budget bill passed last year allows faith-based child placing agencies to discriminate against those who do not conform to their religious beliefs or moral convictions, including members of the LGBTWQ community.
The US Department of Human Services back in January granted Greenville-based Miracle Hill Ministries an exemption to continue its faith-based foster care program that works only with Christians.
Becerra’s decision is based on a 2017 California law that bans state-funded or state-sponsored travel to states that authorize discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. The move thereby classifies South Carolina as a “discriminatory state.”
California already bars officials from travel to Alabama, Kanas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas.