DC Mayor Takes A Stand Against North Carolina's Anti-LGBT Law

• D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser joins mayors of San Francisco, Seattle and New York City in banning official travel to the state.

• The law, which Gov. Pat McCrory signed last week, precludes LGBT people from protection against discrimination. 

• Businesses like PayPal, Facebook and Dow Chemical have also stood up to the law. 

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) has banned city employees from traveling to North Carolina for work purposes as long as the state's anti-LGBT law is in place.

"The laws and public policies of the District of Columbia should support the values of inclusiveness and respect for all," reads the order she issued Friday.

It's unclear how often D.C. employees travel to North Carolina, but the ban is still a display of solidarity with the state's LGBT community. 

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed a bill into law  last week that prevents local governments from passing anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people. The law also forces transgender people to use public bathrooms that correlate with the gender they were assigned at birth, not the one they identify with.

LGBT activists, progressive politicians and many businesses slammed the law immediately. 

Bowser joins San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (D), who last week barred employees from using public funds to travel to North Carolina. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D), New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray (D) announced similar bans this week.

“We are standing united as San Franciscans to condemn North Carolina’s new discriminatory law that turns back the clock on protecting the rights of all Americans including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals,” Lee said in a statement last week. 

North Carolina's law is being challenged in federal court, and the state's attorney general, Roy Cooper, said he will not defend the statute . 

"Not only is this new law a national embarrassment, it will set North Carolina's economy back if we don't repeal it," Cooper, who is challenging McCrory in November's gubernatorial election, said earlier this week.

McCrory has stood by the legislation, dismissing backlash as "political theater ."