A day after California banned state workers from going to Texas on official business, a group of politicians went to Dallas for a major conference.
Last Thursday Attorney General Xavier Becerra said he was prohibiting state employees from traveling to Texas and to three other states on the state's dime. He determined that those states have laws that discriminate against gay and transgender people.
Senator Ricardo Lara, who is openly gay, attended the annual gathering of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials. A spokesperson said that Lara used his own money to visit, not taxpayer funds.
Lara voted for the bill that enacted the travel ban. Regarding his visit to Dallas, he said:
"Texas just passed one of the nation’s most anti-immigrant laws with Senate Bill 4, and California went down this road with Proposition 187 more than 20 years ago. With LGBT and immigrant rights under assault across the country, I thought it was important to join other Latino leaders and show California’s example.”