Attorney General Rob Bonta announced Friday that California has expanded its list of states to which it will not sponsor travel over LGBTQ+ laws it deems discriminatory, even as his own state’s lawmakers work to undo the travel ban altogether.

By law, California will restrict state-funded travel to Missouri, Nebraska, and Wyoming as a result of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation recently enacted in each of those states, Bonta said, adding them to the list of 23 other states to which state-funded or sponsored travel is banned. That puts more than half the country off limits for state travel.

“These new laws enacted by Missouri, Nebraska, and Wyoming aren’t just discriminatory, they constitute a clear case of government overreach — and it’s an alarming trend we’re witnessing across the country,” Bonta said in a statement. “By preventing transgender individuals from participating in sports aligned with their gender identity, or by denying them access to critical healthcare, these legislative actions directly contradict the values of inclusivity and diversity.”

Bonta said the action is required under AB 1887, a 2016 bill by Assemblyman Evan Low, an openly gay Santa Clara County Democrat.

Bonta didn’t mention that another LGBTQ+ Democrat, Senate pro Tempore Toni Atkins of San Diego, has sponsored legislation this year to repeal that ban and replace it with a non-partisan outreach campaign to encourage acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community called the “BRIDGE Project.”

Atkins on Friday...

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