Salt Lake mayor: No North Carolina and Mississippi travel

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Salt Lake City's mayor has banned city-funded travel to Mississippi and North Carolina after they passed what she calls anti-LGBT laws.

The city's first openly gay mayor Jackie Biskupski said Tuesday in a statement that she feels the laws passed in those states are desperate and designed to stifle opportunity for the LGBT community.

The announcement means Salt Lake City is joining a growing list of states and cities that have barred similar travel in response to recently implemented laws in Mississippi and North Carolina that limit protections for lesbians, gays and transgender people.

Biskupski and the city council also invited businesses in those states to relocate to Salt Lake City.

She cites Salt Lake City and Utah laws that make it illegal to discriminate in housing and employment based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

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The Gayly- 4/12/2016 @ 5:07 PM CDT