Some gay state workers in Kansas still protected from discrimination, despite action by governor
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback’s decision to lift employment protections for LGBT state workers won’t disable protections for some in this group.
Several state universities have announced they don’t plan to change their policies barring discrimination against workers on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, the Wichita Business Journal reports, citing a report by KAKE News.
And Brownback’s order won’t affect permanent classified employees who have protections from nonmerit-based firings under the state’s civil service laws, according to Washburn University law professor Joseph Mastrosimone, who spoke with the Topeka Capital-Journal.
Brownback announced last week that he was revoking an executive order that had protected state workers from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Brownback said he was taking action because any expansion of protected classes should be done by the legislature rather than through unilateral action.
Several hundred people gathered at the Kansas Statehouse on Valentine’s Day to protest Brownback’s decision.
Among those at the rally was University of Kansas law student Jake McMillian, the Associated Press reports. “I came to stand in solidarity with other gay and lesbian people in this state,” McMillian told AP. “If you would have asked me a week ago if I ever thought in my wildest dreams that this would happen, I would have told you absolutely not.”
