In a state capital dominated by Democrats, where expanding LGBTQ rights is a mainstay of the agenda, an announcement Wednesday from one of the most powerful lawmakers came as a shock:

Senate Majority Leader Toni Atkins, a Democrat from San Diego who

has

made her way as a lesbian legislator and the first woman to run both houses of the legislature, saying she wants California to repeal its ban on publicly funded travel to states with anti-LGBTQ laws.

Atkins introduced legislation to repeal the law she and her colleagues passed in 2016, with the encouragement of major gay rights groups, who argued that a state economic boycott would prevent California tax dollars from helping fund discrimination outside our borders.

Instead, Atkins said she wants California to create a red state publicity campaign that would encourage LGBTQ acceptance. Her bill would create a fund, backed by private donors and possibly taxpayers, that could pay for impartial messaging that discourages discrimination and helps LGBTQ people feel less isolated.

“I know from personal experience growing up in a rural community, where it’s more conservative, that the way to change people’s minds is to have an impact and direct contact and open hearts and minds,” Atkins said in a conversation with reporters. her childhood in rural Virginia.

“Polarization doesn’t work,” she said. “We need to adjust our strategy.”

While Atkins said California’s travel ban succeeded in sending a signal that the Golden State opposes states’ discriminatory laws, her attempt to repeal it is a tacit admission that

Californians travel the

ban did not work as intended.

Instead of stopping travel to states with anti-LGBTQ laws and creating an economic blow that could spur them on to change, it provided a host of workarounds. California politicians continued to travel to prohibited states by using campaign funds instead of tax dollars. Public university sports teams turned to private boosters and corporate sponsors to get the money needed to compete in states on the no-go list.

Meanwhile, as state laws that discriminate based on gender identity or sexual orientation have become even more common across the country, the list of prohibited states has grown from four when Gov. Jerry Brown signed the law to 23 today.

After nearly banning government-sponsored travel from the country, it became a problem for many scientists at public universities who found themselves unable to conduct research and presentations around the country. The American Historians Assn. wrote a letter to California lawmakers in 2021 asking for a change in the law.

We are particularly concerned that this boycott restricts the work of early-career graduate students and scholars, preventing them from completing research that would actually show the meaning of LGBTQ life, among other pressing topics, in targeted states, wrote the historians.

The drumroll grew louder in December when the New York Times published an op-ed overturning the California travel ban.

Many policies, including those focused on food security, health insurance, taxation, and road safety, are regulated at the state level. Why does California see no value in funding research into what other states could do in those areas? wrote Aaron Caroll,

the

chief health officer of Indiana University.

Does California really believe that its housing policy, and those who make it, might not benefit from a trip to other states to see what they might be doing better?

Atkins acknowledged the unintended impact the ban has had in California by hindering some academic research and athletic opportunities for students. She also said the left-wing LGBTQ people in red states are even more isolated, making it more difficult for California lawmakers to share their progressive agenda with policymakers across the country.

“We should, as legislators who have done that

who has

proposing the most LGBTQ-friendly, reproductive rights, racial justice laws, we should be in all of those states to be able to share our experience,” Atkins said.

Atkins’ push comes as San Francisco also considers repeating a similar local ordinance barring city employees from traveling to 30 states with laws restricting LGBTQ rights, voting rights and access to abortion. San Francisco law goes even further by also prohibiting contracts with companies based in those states. City officials found the policy ineffective and cumbersome, the San Francisco Chronicle reported last month, adding cost and complexity to city affairs.

Whether Atkins’ bill will gain the support of a majority of California lawmakers remains to be seen. Gay rights advocates have historically defended the importance of the travel boycott. The bill was written by Councilman Evan Low (D-Campbell), who is still in office. And the legislature includes more LGBTQ legislators this year than ever before.

But if anyone can argue that communicating with red state voters is a better way to advocate for gay rights than banning travel to red states, Atkins is the legislator best placed to do so. The daughter of a coal miner who grew up in rural Virginia in the 1960s, Atkins moved to San Diego in 1985.

After a career in local politics and women’s advocacy, she won a seat in the Assembly in 2010. Four years later, she kissed her wife Jennifer LeSar on the Assembly podium as she was sworn in as California’s first lesbian Assembly speaker.