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Columbus To Ban Municipal Employees From Traveling To North Carolina

columbus.gov

Columbus City Council tonight is scheduled to consider a ban on unnecessary travel by city employees to North Carolina in protest of that state's recently enacted law mandating which public restrooms transgender people are allowed to use. The measure from gay council member Shannon Hardin follows ordinances enacted in Dayton and Cincinnati. The Central Ohio Transit Authority has already postponed a trip to Charlotte to study that city's light rail system. Columbus voters in 2014 approved a charter amendment prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. Dayton has also banned its employees from non-essential government travel to Mississippi and North Carolina. Mayor Nan Whaley says the new laws conflict with the city's values and anti-discrimination ordinances enacted by city commissioners. The Mississippi law allows people and groups with religious objections to refuse service to gay people.

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