Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback rescinds protections for LGBT state workers

(Image credit: Andrew Burton/Getty Images)

published 11 February 2015

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) issued an executive order on Tuesday that removed discrimination protections for LGBT state employees.

Brownback said that the 2007 executive order by then-Gov. Kathleen Sebelius (D) — which said state workers could not be discriminated against for their sexual orientation or gender identity — was not approved by the legislature but rather "through unilateral action." In a statement, he said his executive order, which replaced Sebelius', "ensures that state employees enjoy the same civil rights as all Kansans without creating additional 'protected classes' as the previous order did."

Critics say that now state employees can be fired, denied a job, and harassed for being gay or transgender, the Los Angeles Times reports. Doug Bonney, legal director for the ACLU of Kansas, said this was an unusual move, since most states are giving LGBT residents protections and not taking them away. "This executive order was the only thing in Kansas protecting those people," Bonney told the Times. "I'm sorry to say that this opens it up to discrimination and there's no good reason for that."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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