DC Water is following Mayor Muriel Bowser’s lead in banning official employee travel to North Carolina, following the passage of a law that the authority says “restricts legal protections for the lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and questioning communities.”

The resolution means that an employee will no longer be presenting at the Design-Build for Water/Wastewater Conference later this month in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The full Board of Directors supported the measure, which was suggested by DC Water staff members, according to DC Water Board of Directors Chairman Matthew Brown.

“How you treat your employees and spend your money are reflections of your values,” says Brown. “We don’t think employees should have to go to North Carolina where they might be discriminated against.”

Normally, resolutions before the board head to committee before a vote, but this was a rare instance where the board voted immediately. This is the first DC Water travel ban based on discriminatory laws.

Bowser’s order says “no office or employee” of D.C. is permitted to travel in an official capacity to North Carolina until the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act is repealed, amended, or enjoined, and Brown notes that DC Water could potentially already be covered under that.

“We wanted to make a statement,” Brown says. “I thought it was important that the full board consider the North Carolina ban.”

This Tuesday, Mississippi passed its own law discriminating against the LGBTQ community. “I think we’re going to have to look at the Mississippi law,” says Brown.

At-large Councilmember David Grosso introduced legislation this week that would ban all city-funded travel—including DC Water—to states with laws codifying anti-gay discrimination.