Texas sued California Monday in the U.S. Supreme Court over California’s ban on taxpayer-funded travel to Texas.

The lawsuit targets a 2017 California law known as Assembly Bill 1887. The law, enforced by the California Attorney General’s Office, prohibits public agencies and colleges from spending state money on travel to states that reduce protections for gay and transgender people.

Texas is one of 11 states to which California has banned travel so far.

The California Attorney General’s Office added Texas to the list in 2017, after Texas’ legislature passed a law allowing foster care providers to factor in their own religious beliefs when making decisions about childrens’ education, medical treatment and other services.

“California is attempting to punish Texans for respecting the right of conscience for foster care and adoption providers,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a Monday news release.

In his statement, Paxton said California is boycotting states based on nothing more than “political disagreement.”

Los Angeles-based LGBT rights group Equality California was a lead sponsor of AB 1887, which passed the California Legislature in 2016 and became law in 2017.

Samuel Garrett-Pate, a spokesperson for the group, called Paxton’s “political disagreement” characterization insulting to both Californians and Texans.

“Texas has the prerogative, they believe, to discriminate against LGBT Texans, and we think that’s unfortunate, but they don’t have the prerogative to tell Californians how to spend our money,” Garrett-Pate said.

The law has led California college sports programs to reconsider scheduling games in states subject to the ban, and it has compelled faculty and students to pull out of academic conferences. The law has exemption for law enforcement investigations and tax collection.

The California Attorney General’s Office is reviewing the complaint, according to its press office.

Last week, Oklahoma announced a ban of its own on state-paid travel to California, in retaliation for California banning state-paid travel to Oklahoma.

California’s AB 1887 was introduced by Assemblyman Evan Low, D-Campbell. Low’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

This story was originally published February 10, 2020 at 6:31 PM with the headline "Texas sues California over state travel ban, dismissing LGBT protection law as ‘political’."