Mayor Edwin M. Lee today issued the following statement after Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant signed the Religious Freedom Law that openly allows discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals in the State of Mississippi:

“Enough is enough. I believe strongly that we should add more protections to prevent discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in the United States, not diminish them and deny people their constitutional rights.

The action taken by the Mississippi Governor undermines all of our civil liberties, and we must stand up, once again, and call out discrimination when we see it.

Again, San Francisco taxpayers will not subsidize legally-sanctioned hate and bigotry against any person or group, especially our lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities in Mississippi or any other state. Effective immediately, I am directing City Departments under my authority to bar any publicly-funded City employee travel to the State of Mississippi that is not absolutely essential to public health and safety, adding to our current ban of City-funded travel to the State of North Carolina.

I am already in discussions with other mayors around the country to consider how our cities can work together to apply even greater economic and political pressure to repeal or stop discriminatory laws in states like North Carolina and Mississippi.”