District of Columbia Councilman David Grosso has called for a ban on spending District funds for travel to Indiana after that state's governor signed a bill that some have said allows businesses to discriminate against gay people.
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"Discrimination has no place in the District of Columbia, and our public employees should not be forced to travel to a place that prides itself on fueling anti-LGBTQ animosity," Grosso said in a statement.
His move follows that of Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy, who Monday said he would sign an executive order barring state-funded travel to Indiana. The mayors of San Francisco and Seattle have also banned city-funded travel to the state.
The bans are a reaction to Indiana's new Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed by Gov. Mike Pence last week. The bill says the state government cannot prevent someone -- including a business owner -- from following religious beliefs. Indiana has no statewide anti-discrimination law, and so some have said that law allows businesses to legally refuse to serve gay people.
Business leaders and celebrities have blasted the new law. Tim Cook, Apple's CEO, said in an op-ed in the Washington Post that the new law was part of a "dangerous" "wave of legislation that ... would allow people to discriminate against their neighbors."
The hashtag #BoycottIndiana quickly trended on Twitter.
Grosso called on Mayor Muriel Bowser to enact a ban. "The blatant bigotry on display by Governor Pence and the legislature leads me to believe that Indiana is not a safe place for our public employees to travel," the statement read.
