New State Travel Warning Challenges Cos. to Keep Travelers Safe

When LGBTQ civil rights group Equality Florida issued a warning against travel to its own state, the organization called it an “extraordinary step.” It now also stands as a challenge to travel programs at companies and organizations that have sought to evolve their diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

The warning, issued in April, said Florida’s “slate of laws and policies targeting basic freedoms and rights pose a serious risk to the health and safety of those traveling to the state”—in particular, laws that can restrict public restroom use in accordance with one’s gender identity, certain medical care for transgender youth and censorship of the LGBTQ community, to name a few. Brandon Wolf, Equality Florida’s press secretary, said the warning was intended for individuals and organizations to consider “whether or not Florida is the right place to be.”

“We’ve gotten a number of questions about the safety of the travel to the state,” he said. “We took a look at the political landscape, with a state legislature that appears to have abandoned its role as a co-equal branch of government and acts as a rubber stamp for [Florida Gov. Ron] DeSantis, and that led us to believe in answering the inquiries in an honest and public way.”

The Concrete Dangers

DeSantis’ office dismissed the warning as a “political stunt,” as did Visit Florida CEO Dana Young in a Travel Weekly interview published today. But some consultants say it highlights real threats travelers could face, and which are not limited only to LGBTQ travelers.

The bathroom policy, for example, puts trans visitors in danger of criminal charges for using a restroom in public buildings they would be accustomed to using while at home, Wolf said. While the law was narrowed from an earlier proposal that also would have included private businesses, it still could apply to publicly owned or leased spaces that include airports, convention centers and stadiums, he said.

It’s more than just a legal issue as well. J. Grant Caplan, president of Procurigence and former chair of the Global Business Travel Association’s DE&I committee, said there’s an additional risk from the public interpreting—or misinterpreting—the law, leading to vigilantes trying to police the gender of people using a public restroom. This also could easily happen to cisgender individuals who have features associated with the opposite gender and are therefore misinterpreted as transgender, meaning the risk goes beyond the transgender community.

“There is more of a risk to people with personal vigilantism, even if [the traveler is] not necessarily on the wrong side of the discriminatory policy,” Caplan said. “Companies do not want to put their people in danger, nor their meeting attendees in danger.”

Liam Paschall, a transgender inclusion educator and consultant, said public bathrooms already are a source of anxiety even without the specter of legislation. He said he’d often wait outside a men’s restroom door, feeling as if he was having a panic attack, and he’d text his wife to let her know where he was before entering. Once inside, he’d wonder whether every other person inside could present a potential confrontation.

“It’s a scary thing to be out in public, trying to find a restroom,” Paschall said. “With bathroom bills, it puts us at the risk of harassment, violence or being charged with a crime.”

Beyond the bathroom law, Wolf said another law signed by DeSantis allowing health-care providers to deny service based on a “conscience-based objection” also poses a particular risk to LGBTQ travelers. Other laws not directly tied to the LGBTQ community—such as laws targeting those who offer support or transportation to undocumented immigrants and allowing permitless carry of firearms—also were a factor in the warning, he said.

Travel risk consultant Bruce McIndoe said the advisory bears notice for travel managers, as it shows “there’s definitely some smoke.”

Travel Program Impacts

So, how should a company respond to such a warning? Paschall said that companies should offer special consideration for the safety and well-being of travelers who will be most affected.

“I don’t think any company should require any LGBTQ+ employee to go to [states with legislative direction similar to Florida’s],” he said. “They should consider other options, such as virtual events, conferences or meetings.”

Legislative changes ultimately will be reflected in data sets that measure safety ratings for LGBTQ travelers, “after relevant interest groups have had a chance to study the impact and release their reports,” GeoSure CEO Michael Becker said. GeoSure in 2018 launched neighborhood-level safety ratings for LGBTQ travelers in 2018, rating their likelihood to face discrimination or harm in any given area.

Keeping up with the status of legislation such as bathroom bills—what has been passed versus what is under discussion, and what facilities it affects—can be enough of a challenge on its own, International SOS regional security manager Tyler Hosford said. Travel security firms such as ISOS can keep companies informed and help travelers take it into account into their own risk profile. For those companies who do not have access to ISOS or similar resources, the national advocacy groups are a good source in keeping abreast of developments, he said.

There’s also the broader question of consideration when selecting a venue for a meeting, event or convention. Hosting events in venues perceived as hostile to LGBTQ travelers not only affects those travelers but also can give a tacit endorsement of those policies, Caplan said.

“It has a direct impact on the message they are sending their staff, their clients and the world,” he said.

A test case of that was when North Carolina introduced a “bathroom bill” in 2016, Caplan said. The bill was rescinded the next year following a reaction from the business community that the Associated Press estimated would cost the state more than $3.76 billion in lost business.

Meeting planning technology company Troop last week introduced a feature in which travel managers can view levels of risk to the LGBTQ community when selecting a destination, founder and co-CEO Dennis Vilovic said.

“The LGBTQ community is an important community for our industry, the recent travel warning to LGBTQ travelers to Florida is a concern for us all,” according to Vilovic. “Our mission at Troop is to help alleviate these concerns and make meeting planning easy for everyone; this includes ensuring the safety of all participants.”

If a company opts not to do business in a location due to discriminatory or harmful policies, they should communicate that decision to local destination management companies, Caplan said. That will in turn be communicated to the government entities as a measure of the financial effects of those policies.

Of course, there will be times where travelers must travel somewhere they might feel uncomfortable or afraid. In those cases, Paschall recommends companies have clear guidelines in place for how employees can report discrimination if they experience it during travel and what the company response will be. They might include legal resources, mental health resources, finding LGBTQ-friendly lodging or cutting ties with a vendor, client or partner if they are the source of the discrimination, he said.

Wolf said one of the most “heartening developments” since the announcement of the warning has been the outreach from conference organizers and businesses planning travel to Florida, asking for advice on how to message travelers and keep them safe. One conference organizer, for example, asked for a list of reliable medical providers, such as urgent care facilities, that would be welcoming if an LGBTQ attendee needed medical attention.

Companies also have been asking for which businesses they could work with as a way to give back to the LGBTQ community, such as through the Open Doors Florida business directory, he said.

“Our challenges is, if you decide to bring an event to Florida, make it a statement about why you are here and what you are going to do to fight for civil liberties of LGBTQA people,” Wolf said. “Passive allyship is not enough right now. Something is on the line.”

Just the Beginning?

Equality Florida’s travel warning is just one that has arisen in the state in recent weeks. On Saturday, the NAACP board of directors issued a travel advisory to the state, saying it “has become hostile to Black Americans and in direct conflict with the democratic ideals that our union was founded upon,” according to NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson. The League of United Latin American Citizens also has recently released a travel advisory for Florida, as has the Florida Immigrant Coalition, and the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the U.S., issued its own advisory on May 23.

Florida is hardly alone in its legislative actions. Wolf said Equality Florida has been in close contact with its Texas counterpart, for example, so similar advisories could likely be issued in other states.

Additionally, anti-trans legislation has an impact far beyond the borders of the state where it’s introduced, Paschall said. The legislation often is accompanied by rhetoric labeling the LGBTQ community and its supporters as “groomers” and or “pedophiles,” which already has led to protests outside LGBTQ spaces around the country. Such rhetoric “contributes to an environment of hostility and intolerance, making it harder for LGBTQ+ people to feel accepted and safe,” according to Paschall.

“It increases the risk of discrimination, harassment, bullying and violence even in what are considered safe states,” he said. “It doesn’t matter where people live. They start to hear all these thoughts and opinions about the community and start to form their own opinions.”

McIndoe said that certainly can be the case in Florida, even for LGBTQ travelers who are not necessarily directly impacted by the legislation.

“There is no question that there is a more anti-LGBTQ+ environment in Florida targeting parents and youth more than those over 18,” McIndoe said. “As such, a concern that this anti-LBGTQ+ environment will also create a hostile environment for the LGBTQ+ community in Florida is a reasonable concern.”

Tracking sentiment has been a recent focus for ISOS, and the company has put together an internal group to look at how to handle it, Hosford. It also can be very volatile, with LGBTQ travelers potentially facing different sentiments in the same location due to events of the day.

“It can change hour to hour,” he said. “With Pride Month in June, that will escalate some people’s opinions on things and bring them to the forefront. There might have been a protest recently, or an issue in a school or government building, that happened in the last few days and is fresh in people’s minds.”

In the current political climate, Paschall said he’d like to see companies take a more active role in supporting their LGBTQ employees. When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned federal abortion rights last year, for example, several large companies responded that they would be covering travel expenses and lodging for female employees who needed abortions but lived in states that did not provide them. As yet, Paschall said he has not seen similar offers for trans employees who no longer would be able to access needed medical care for themselves or their children in states like Florida, Missouri, Texas and others, where restrictions on care have either passed or are in active legislative process.  

“We’ve seen companies make bold statements, but we need to see them to start actively, publicly speaking out and taking a stance,” Paschall said. “It’s one thing to have employee resource groups or say they’re not going to send someone to a location, but we need to see direct action to combat discrimination and hate.”