New York, Vermont and Washington ban official travel to Mississippi over anti-LGBT laws

State officials lose the respect of their contemporaries

Protesters line up outside the Governor's Mansion in Mississippi on April 4. (AP)

New York, Vermont and Washington have banned official state-funded travel to Mississippi following the enactment of an anti-LGBT law.

The District of Columbia is also planning to implement a ban, the Associated Press reports. The city’s mayor has already banned travel to North Carolina who implemented a similar legislation.

The travel bans were all issued on Tuesday following Governor Phil Bryant’s decision to sign House Bill 1523, legislation that allows businesses to turn away same-sex couples or transgender people.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo condemned the bill as a “sad, hateful injustice against LGBT community.”

“Discrimination is not a New York value. We believe our diversity is our greatest strength, and we will continue to reject the politics of division and exclusion,” Governor Cuomo said in a statement.

“This Mississippi law is a sad, hateful injustice against the LGBT community, and I will not allow any non-essential official travel to that state until it is repealed.”