Tennessee the Latest State on the List for Prohibited D.C. Government Travel

Councilmember David Grosso's bill to ban state-funded travel to any locality with anti-LGBT laws is looking like a wise proposal, as D.C. adds yet another state to the growing list of places where government employees are prohibited from traveling to as part of their official duties.

On Friday, Mayor Muriel Bowser banned all official government travel to Tennessee in response to a bill that allows mental health counselors and therapists to claim a religious exemption to treating clients, including LGBT people or those who engage in extramarital sex, whose behavior they find morally objectionable. Rather than just being based on religious beliefs, a therapist can, under the law, argue that treating such clients violates their "personal principles."

"...Whereas, the legislation allows therapists to discriminate against persons seeking professional counseling, and could be particularly harmful for the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) communities, and whereas, protecting the civil rights and liberties of all people, including those in LGBTQ communities, is a compelling government interest...no officer or employee of the District of Columbia is authorized to approve any official travel to Tennessee until such time that the bill is permanently enjoined, repealed or amended," Bowser's order reads.

Last month, Bowser and a coalition of mayors called upon Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam (R) to veto the therapist exemption bill. The coalition, known as Mayors Against Discrimination, pointed out the risks that the law could pose to LGBT individuals, in particular youth or those who live in rural areas and may not have as many options when it comes to seeking mental health services.

Bowser's executive order banning city-funded travel to the Volunteer State follows similar orders she's issued in recent months for North Carolina, following the passage of the controversial HB 2 law, and Mississippi, following the passage of a "religious freedom" law that would allow LGBT people to be refused goods or services, including those they seek from government officials. In 2015, she issued a similar order for Indiana following that state's passage of a Religious Freedom Restoration Act that many viewed as condoning LGBT discrimination.