Kansas governor-elect to reinstate LGBTI protections for state workers

09 Nov 2018

Stefania is the Prides & Festivals editor and a cinema…

Kansas governor-elect Laura Kelly announced that she plans to reinstate an executive order to protect the LGBTI state employees.

The Democrat governor defeated Secretary of State Kris Kobach, endorsed by Donald Trump. In defeating Kobach, Kelly became the first Democrat to be elected Kansas governor since 2009.

A Republican governor revoked the order in 2015

‘I am planning to actually have an executive order drafted before I take office,’ Kelly said at a news conference at the Kansas Capitol.

The executive order she plans to reinstate for LGBTI state employees was first put in place by Governor Kathleen Sebelius in 2007. The order prohibited harassment, firing or discrimination against state workers on the grounds of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

However, in 2015 Republican Governor Sam Brownback revoked the order. At the time, Brownback also said that the Supreme Court’s decision to federally legalize same-sex marriage ‘produced a new protected class’ through executive action.

Another victory for Kansas’ LGBTIs

Reinstating the order would be yet another good news for the state’s LGBTI community.

Kansas, in fact, has just elected a lesbian woman to Congress. Lawyer and ex-MMA fighter Sharice Davids became the first ever LGBTI Native American to sit in Congress.

Davids earned 52.8% of the vote, with 70% of precincts submitting their votes. Her Republican opponent, Kevin Yoder, got 44.5% of the vote.