USS Portland
By _and_USS_New_York_(LPD_21)_are_underway_together_in_the_Atla.jpg#/media/File:US_Navy_110609-N-VL218-336_The_amphibious_transport_dock_ships_USS_San_Antonio_(LPD_17)_and_USS_New_York_(LPD_21)_are_underway_together_in_the_Atla.jpg)
Well, this is embarrassing.
For the second week in a row, Portland’s talking about banning city employees from traveling to a bigoted state, and this time Mayor Charlie Hales’ Pascagoula dreams may be dashed.
Hales and First Lady Nancy Hales had planned to travel to Mississippi next month to pay a visit to the USS Portland (actually, the third USS Portland to be owned by the US Navy), named in honor of this city. But after Mississippi became the latest state to pass a terrible, homophobic, discriminatory lawyesterday, Hales says he’ll put those plans on ice.
“I would be very disappointed if the Mayor of Portland was not able to be there for the launching of the Portland,” Hales said this morning, adding “these travel bans, if they are to mean anything, should mean we are not able to go to Mississippi.”
Turns out that they’ll commission USS Portland in Portland in late 2017. Sucks to be you, Mississippi.