Rachel Kurzius
Mayor Bowser at a 2015 press conference with NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio, also part of the Mayors Against Discrimination coalition. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)
As part of a new coalition with other mayors, District Mayor Muriel Bowser sent a letter to the governor of Tennessee urging him to veto a bill that “legally sanctions intolerance in your state.”
The bill in question would let mental health counselors turn away patients based on their religious beliefs or personal principles. “While clearly aimed at LGBT individuals, the legislation as written would allow for discrimination against patients based on many factors, including race, religion, and gender,” the letter says.
Bowser sent it with eight other “Mayors Against Discrimination,” all of whom barred city-funded travel to North Carolina and Mississippi following those states passing anti-LGBTQ laws, and say they’re “committed to using our collective influence to oppose discriminatory practices.”
Jennifer Donnals, a spokesperson for Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam, confirmed that the office received the letter and says that the governor is “reviewing [the bill] in its final form before taking any action.” Haslam, a Republican, expressed concerns about a different bill in the Tennessee House that would require transgender students use bathrooms that correspond with the biological sex on their birth certificates, a provision in the controversial North Carolina bill.
Since the passage of the North Carolina bill, a number of businesses have scuttled plans to expand in the state, and performers have cancelled planned shows. D.C.’s ban already resulted in the cancellation of one DDOT trip. DC Water, which passed its own ban on traveling to the Tarheel State, also nixed a presentation at a Charlotte conference.
Legislation introduced at the D.C. Council by At-large Councilmember David Grosso would ban all city-funded travel to any states with “a law in effect that affirmatively sanctions or requires discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.” The mayor’s office is still reviewing that bill.
