The British Foreign & Commonwealth Office has updated its travel advice for LGBT travellers headed to the US, warning of the dangers in Mississippi and North Carolina following the introduction of anti-gay laws in March, ttg reports.
North Carolina’s House Bill 2 (HB2) overturned a city order which had aimed to extended rights of the LGBT community. This included allowing transgender people to use bathrooms of the sex that they identified with.
HB2 means local governments are blocked from introducing laws that have anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people, and requires transgender people to use the bathrooms that match their biological sex, even if this means violating their gender identity, the Guardian reported. Virginia and Tennessee recently overturned a similar law.
Meanwhile Mississippi passed a bill in recent weeks which allows people to deny services to gay couples on religious grounds.
Supporters of the bill insist that it will protect religious freedom, however many others have labelled it discriminatory. It is scheduled to come into law on July 1.
LGBT warnings
Now the British FCO has introduced specific LGBT warnings in relation to these two states. Previously it only had general advice for LGBT people to “take care abroad”, but lacked specific warnings about the US.
Its advice now states: “The US is an extremely diverse society and attitudes towards LGBT people differ hugely across the country. LGBT travellers may be affected by legislation passed recently in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi. Before travelling please read our general travel advice for the LGBT community.”
The move has already had a significant commercial impact on North Carolina. The Greater Raleigh Convention and Visitor Bureau, which promotes tourism in the region said $2.4 million (£1.6 million) in lost business had been reported last week, with $732,000 lost the week before. On Monday the total losses were calculated as being around $3.1 million, the Guardian reported.
A number of music performers have also recently cancelled gigs in North Carolina, including Ringo Starr, Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen.
Cirque du Soleil has also cancelled a performance in the state, while PayPal cancelled plans to open a new centre which would have created around 400 jobs. Deutsche Bank has also dropped its plans to expand there.
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