MnSCU drops North Carolina travel ban

Updated: 9:00 p.m. | Posted: 7:36 p.m.

The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system has lifted a ban on travel to North Carolina over that state's law limiting the rights of LGBT people.

The ban was imposed after North Carolina passed a law requiring transgender people to use bathrooms and locker rooms matching their birth gender, rather than their gender identity.

Create a More Connected Minnesota

MPR News is your trusted resource for the news you need. With your support, MPR News brings accessible, courageous journalism and authentic conversation to everyone - free of paywalls and barriers. Your gift makes a difference.

A MnSCU statement late Thursday said the system was confident that North Carolina's law was being addressed through a Justice Department order that it violated civil rights and can't be enforced.

"In light of the intervention from the U.S. Justice Department, the presidents of Minnesota State Colleges and Universities are confident that the deplorable discrimination embedded in North Carolina's legislation is being addressed," the statement said. "Therefore, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities have lifted their ban on travel to North Carolina."

A spokesperson for Gov. Mark Dayton said late Thursday the governor "agrees with" MnSCU's move.

"In light of recent actions taken by the U.S. Department of Justice, Gov. Dayton is now considering whether to lift the travel ban for Minnesota's state agency employees," Matt Swenson said.

Dayton last month banned all non-essential travel by state employees.

The MnSCU ban had caused some athletic coaches to worry that they might not be able to travel to prominent baseball tournaments in North Carolina.