--- title: U.K. Warns LGBT Travelers About North Carolina, Mississippi description: The Foreign Office issued a warning after the two states passed controversial laws. canonical: https://time.com/4303101/u-k-warns-lgbt-travelers-about-north-carolina-and-mississippi-laws/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-21T13:18:02.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:55:51.152Z article:section: U.S. og:title: U.K. Warns LGBT Travelers About North Carolina and Mississippi Laws og:description: The Foreign Office issued advice after the states passed controversial laws og:url: https://time.com/4303101/u-k-warns-lgbt-travelers-about-north-carolina-and-mississippi-laws/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt562e56a6b438af09/69889024e20a87be4fa9086b/uk-travel-warning-lgbt-mississippi-north-carolina.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: uk travel warning lgbt mississippi north carolina og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.K. Warns LGBT Travelers About North Carolina and Mississippi Laws twitter:description: The Foreign Office issued advice after the states passed controversial laws twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt562e56a6b438af09/69889024e20a87be4fa9086b/uk-travel-warning-lgbt-mississippi-north-carolina.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.K. Warns LGBT Travelers About North Carolina and Mississippi Laws  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Apr 21, 2016 1:18 PM CUT  The rainbow pride flag flying in front of the statue of Horatio Nelson in central London. The rainbow pride flag flying in front of the statue of Horatio Nelson in central London.AFP—AFP/Getty Images  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Apr 21, 2016 1:18 PM CUT The British Foreign Office [updated its travel advisories](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/foreign-office-issues-new-advice-for-british-lgbt-people-travelling-to-us-a6993016.html "undefined") [Tuesday](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/04/20/britain-issues-warning-for-lgbt-travelers-visiting-north-carolina-and-mississippi/ "undefined") to warn LGBT travelers about recent legislation passed in North Carolina and Mississippi. The new religious freedom law [in Mississippi](http://time.com/4278616/mississippi-lgbt-religious-bill/ "undefined") allows businesses to refuse service based on opposition to same sex marriage, and[ HB 2 in North Carolina](http://time.com/4270246/north-carolina-local-governments-transgender-rule/ "undefined") mandates that transgender people use bathrooms according to their birth sex. “The US is an extremely diverse society and attitudes towards LGBT people differ hugely across the country,” states the [Foreign Office advice about the U.S.](https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/usa/local-laws-and-customs "undefined") “LGBT travellers may be affected by legislation passed recently in the states of North Carolina and Mississippi.” Before Tuesday’s update, the Foreign Office [had only offered general advice](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/foreign-office-issues-new-advice-for-british-lgbt-people-travelling-to-us-a6993016.html "undefined") that LGBT travelers “take care abroad.” \[[_The Independent_](http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/foreign-office-issues-new-advice-for-british-lgbt-people-travelling-to-us-a6993016.html "undefined")_,_ [_Washington Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2016/04/20/britain-issues-warning-for-lgbt-travelers-visiting-north-carolina-and-mississippi/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4303101/u-k-warns-lgbt-travelers-about-north-carolina-and-mississippi-laws/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4303101/u-k-warns-lgbt-travelers-about-north-carolina-and-mississippi-laws/"},"headline":"U.K. Warns LGBT Travelers About North Carolina and Mississippi Laws","datePublished":"2016-04-21T13:18:02.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:55:51.152Z","description":"The Foreign Office issued a warning after the two states passed controversial laws","url":"https://time.com/4303101/u-k-warns-lgbt-travelers-about-north-carolina-and-mississippi-laws/","keywords":["LGBT"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt562e56a6b438af09/69889024e20a87be4fa9086b/uk-travel-warning-lgbt-mississippi-north-carolina.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt562e56a6b438af09/69889024e20a87be4fa9086b/uk-travel-warning-lgbt-mississippi-north-carolina.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"uk travel warning lgbt mississippi north carolina","caption":"uk travel warning lgbt mississippi north carolina","creditText":"AFP—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4303101/u-k-warns-lgbt-travelers-about-north-carolina-and-mississippi-laws/","name":"U.K. Warns LGBT Travelers About North Carolina and Mississippi Laws"}}]}] ```