Kansas Governor Sam Brownback To LGBT State Workers: We Can Now Discriminate Against You

Is it just me, or is Kansas Governor Sam Brownback now in the running for Douchebag of the Year and holding a clear lead? And it’s only February!

On Tuesday, Brownback sent fear and loathing across the state by rescinding rules which protect LGBT state workers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. In other words, he flipped off anyone who dares to have a lifestyle that is in anyway different from his own. So let me beat you to the punch: This guy is an asshat of monumental proportions!

In announcing the action, which was implemented under former Governor Kathleen Sebelius in 2007, Brownback attempted to cover his ass with this weak defense:

“This Executive Order ensures that state employees enjoy the same civil rights as all Kansans without creating additional ‘protected classes’ as the previous order did. Any such expansion of ‘protected classes’ should be done by the legislature and not through unilateral action.”

Doug Bonney, legal director of the Kansas ACLU, said state workers who happen to be LGBT are now in an incredibly precarious position when it comes to their jobs:

“When an executive repeals that kind of order, it sends a terrible, terrible sign that we don’t care about this–these people are not deserving of protections, we’re going to go backwards. That’s against the flow of history, frankly. If (a worker’s) bosses don’t like gay folks, for instance, it’ll be open season.”

Brownback, like most bigots, has a history of homophobia. While still a member of the U. S. Senate, he was one of the co-sponsors of the Federal Marriage Amendment. That act would have codified marriage discrimination into the the United States Constitution. Brownback has also fought against gay marriage in Kansas, but a federal judge declared same-sex marriage legal in the Hawkeye State last year.

In addition to this latest outrage, Brownback’s radical tax cut plan, which he enacted during his first term as governor, has left the state nearly $350 million in the red this fiscal year. Brownback has already destroyed the state’s economy, and now he wants to drag it back to the days when hating gay people was still fashionable.

This article was originally published by the same author at LiberalAmerica.org

 

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