San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee waded into a controversial issue last week regarding a “religious freedom” bill recently signed into law by Indiana Gov. Mike Pence. In a statement Thursday, the mayor announced a ban on publicly funded city employee travel to the Hoosier State, effective immediately.
“We stand united as San Franciscans to condemn Indiana’s new discriminatory law, and will work together to protect the civil rights of all Americans including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals,” the statement read.
The ban applies to all city travel which is not “essential to public health and safety,” according to the mayor.
Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act prohibits laws that “substantially burden a person’s right to exercise of religion,” unless it can be shown that the law is necessary to promote a compelling government interest, and that it constitutes the least restrictive means of doing so. The legislation provides legal grounds for defense against certain claims of discrimination.
Supporters of the law note that similar legislation is already in place in 19 other states and has been continuously upheld by the courts. Opponents, however, fear the new legislation could be used to promote discrimination against the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities. Indiana lawmakers have since moved to clarify the new law, but a number of companies have already announced plans to boycott the state as a result. Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is expected to ban city-funded travel to Indiana this week.
This is not the first time Mayor Lee has taken a stance on an issue outside of his city or state. Lee threatened a ban on city travel to Arizona last year over a proposed law which would have allowed businesses to refuse service to LGBT individuals. That bill was vetoed by Gov. Jan Brewer.
Read more about Mayor Ed Lee’s announcement here.