Louisiana governor signs order protecting LGBT rights

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

World | Wed Apr 13, 2016 2:14pm EDT

Louisiana governor signs order protecting LGBT rights

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards on Wednesday signed an anti-discrimination order protecting the rights of gay and transgender people, aligning his state on the liberal side of a political divide playing out across the South.

The Democrat's executive order also protects state employees and employees of state contractors against discrimination based on other criteria including race, religion, disability or age. It also bans state agencies from discrimination while offering an exemption for churches and religious organizations.

Edwards followed in the steps of previous Democratic Louisiana governors Edwin Edwards and Kathleen Blanco in signing such an order as there is no state law protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT) people from employment discrimination, the governor's office said in a statement.

His order rescinds one signed by his immediate predecessor, Bobby Jindal, a Republican and onetime presidential contender, that was part of the "religious freedom" movement in some Southern states that seeks to limit same-sex marriage rights and the ability of transgender people to choose which public restrooms they may use.

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-louisiana-lgbt-idUSKCN0XA22H

[artyteacher]

1. yes yes yes!

Nice to hear this.

[Else You Are Mad]

2. Do you hear that?

That sound was the conservative heads exploding in Louisiana. I am glad there are some sane politicians in the deep south.

[irisblue]

3. good