SF Mayor Pulls the Plug on Taxpayer-Funded Travel to Indiana

Don't worry San Franciscans. None of your hard earned tax dollars will go to support Indiana's economy.

As the hashtag #BoycottIndiana continues to trend on Twitter, Republican Governor Mike Pence of Indiana is beginning to feel some of the first in what is sure to be a series of financial punches to the Hoosier State in response the recently signed "Religious Freedom" law that many believe to be a thinly veiled license to discriminate against the LGBT community, The San Francisco Examiner reports.

In a statement issued Thursday by San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee, the "City by the Bay"'s chief executive said that city employees are no longer allowed to travel at the taxpayers' expense to Indiana as a result of Republican Gov. Mike Pence's signing of potentially damaging law.

"We stand united as San Franciscans to condemn Indiana's new discriminatory law, and will work together to protect the civil rights of all Americans including lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals," Lee said in the statement.

"Effective immediately, I am directing city departments under my authority to bar any publicly-funded city employee travel to the state of Indiana that is not absolutely essential to public health and safety," he said. "San Francisco taxpayers will not subsidize legally-sanctioned discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people by the state of Indiana."

The Examiner notes that Lee's ban on taxpayer funded travel to Indiana follows a statement made by San Francisco-based Salesforce's CEO Marc Benioff who said his company was canceling all programs that require customers or employees to travel to Indiana.

Benioff and Lee are just a few among the many who are calling for a boycott of Indiana as a result of the new potentially anti-LGBT law that purports to protect religion.

On Wednesday, EDGE reported that mega gaming convention Gen Con's organizers pledged to relocate their local economy boosting event should Gov. Pence sign the "religious freedom" bill.

"Legislation that could allow for refusal of service or discrimination against our attendees will have a direct negative impact on the state's economy, and will factor into our decision-making on hosting the convention in the state of Indiana in future years," said Adrian Swartout, owner and CEO of Gen Con LLC, in a letter sent to Pence just hours after lawmakers sent the measure to his desk.

According to the Indy Star, Indiana's Senate Bill 101 which was signed into law by Pence on Thursday in very loose language prohibits state or local governments from substantially burdening a person's ability to exercise their religion -- unless the government can show that it has a compelling interest and that the action is the least-restrictive means of achieving it.

Although the law does not mention sexual orientation, critics believe it will allow business owners to hide behind their religion to deny services to gays and lesbians.

The law will take effect July 1.