Obama urges tourists to visit North Carolina and Mississippi despite new laws seen as anti-gay - Los Angeles Times
Advertisement

Obama urges tourists to visit North Carolina and Mississippi despite new laws seen as anti-gay

Share via

President Obama joined the chorus of those condemning new laws in North Carolina and Mississippi as anti-gay but reassured would-be tourists Friday that they were still welcome and would be treated warmly in the South.

Obama’s remarks, made alongside British Prime Minister David Cameron at a news conference in London, came amid an uproar over the laws that included an advisory from the British Foreign Office pointing out the laws to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender travelers who might be planning to travel to the southern U.S.

Join the conversation on Facebook >>

Advertisement

“You are welcome and you should come and enjoy yourselves,” Obama said. “I think you’ll be treated with extraordinary hospitality.”

Both states have seen hotel and other travel cancellations in recent weeks after the laws were enacted. The singer Bryan Adams canceled a concert and actress Sharon Stone decided not to film a movie in Mississippi because of that state’s law allowing people to discriminate against LGBT people on religious grounds.

Bruce Springsteen, Pearl Jam and other artists have canceled shows in North Carolina following passage of a law regulating access to bathrooms by transgender people.

Advertisement

The laws are wrong and should be overturned, Obama said. When it comes to respecting the rights of everyone, he said, “it’s very important for us not to send signals that anybody is treated differently.”

Even so, he said, the states still welcome visitors.

“The people of North Carolina and Mississippi,” he said, “are wonderful people.”

Memoli reported from London and Parsons from Washington.

Twitter: @mikememoli, @cparsons

Advertisement

ALSO

NBA commissioner: All-Star Game in North Carolina hinges on changing LGBT law

Pearl Jam joins North Carolina concert boycott: Who else is protesting anti-gay law?

L.A. City Council votes to stop doing business with North Carolina and Mississippi over LGBT laws

Advertisement