"The Hospitality State" will not officially host New York state guests any time soon.Governor Andrew Cuomo is banning all non-essential state-funded travel to Mississippi, signing an executive order yesterday requiring all New York State agencies or departments to eliminate any publicly-funded travel there.

The ban goes into effect immediatelyand is in response to Mississippi's enactment of a bill that allows businesses and non-profits to refuse service people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed the bill into law while asserting that Mississippi business owners, churches, and government employees do not want to be forced to - through their business practices - to condone the lifestyles of others with which they do not agree.

Gay rights groups and others urged Governor Bryant not to sign the legislation.  The American Civil Liberties Union is said to be considering a legal challenge, saying that the legislations goes beyond what other states have passed or prosposed.

On March 28, 2016 Governor Cuomo banned non-essential state travel to North Carolina for its version of a religious liberty bill, called by many the "Transgender Bathroom Bill."  Following the signing of the North Carolina bill by Governor Pat McCrory, NC Attorney General Roy Cooper said that he would not defend the bill, calling it a "national embarrassment."

Some are criticizing Governor Cuomo's bans on state-sponsored travel to both North Carolina and Mississippi, stating that the move is hypocritical given Cuomo's trip to Cuba in 2015.

 

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