California still bans travel to North Carolina despite bathroom law repeal

California is still banning state-funded travel to North Carolina despite the repeal of the Tar Heel State's bathroom law, which prohibited individuals from using public bathrooms for the opposite sex.

On Wednesday, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra announced that the state will not lift the travel ban because he felt that the repeal of North Carolina's House Bill 2 was inadequate, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Becerra noted that the law that repealed HB 2 still prohibits local governments and universities from passing their own anti-discrimination ordinances.

"California is inclusive. We take pride in protecting the rights of all our people," the attorney general stated in a press release.

"Discrimination is unacceptable and we intend to protect LGBT rights. California's law was enacted to ensure that, with limited exceptions, our taxpayer resources are not spent in states that authorize discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression," he added.

North Carolina will remain on the list of banned destinations under AB 1887, which prohibits state-funded travel or other types of spending to states that have laws that are deemed discriminatory towards LGBTQ people. Kansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee are also included in the list of banned destinations under the law that was enacted on Jan. 1.

Law enforcement, tax auditors, and grants are exempted from the ban, and sports teams of public universities would be allowed to travel to banned states for championships as long as the trips are paid for by donations or outside groups.

The replacement law, HB 142, gets rid of the portion of HB 2 that requires individuals to use restrooms and locker rooms that match the sex on their birth certificates.

The compromise measure was intended at mitigating the economic boycott to North Carolina as a result of HB 2, according to the Washington Blade.

Critics denounced the replacement law as a "betrayal" because it prevents cities from passing anti-discrimination ordinances until 2020.

California is the second state to affirm its state-funded travel ban on North Carolina despite the replacement law.

Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton has said that he will keep the state's law prohibiting government employees from engaging in non-essential travel to North Carolina

Vermont, New York, Connecticut, and Washington State also enacted travel bans to North Carolina because of HB 2. Washington State announced that the ban has been lifted following the repeal of the controversial law.