The major Democratic candidates for Kansas governor said Saturday they would push to write civil protections for LGBT state employees into law.
Appearing at a forum sponsored by the Johnson County NAACP, former Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, state Sen. Laura Kelly and former state Rep. Josh Svaty said they would sign an executive order protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender state employees from discrimination.
Three years ago, former Gov. Sam Brownback withdrew an executive order barring discrimination of state employee based on gender identity or sexual orientation.
The anti-discrimination policy had been in place since 2007 when it was signed by former Gov. Kathleen Sebelius.
While the candidates’ promise to restore those protections wasn’t necessarily new, they raised the ante on Saturday when they said they would ask lawmakers to put those protections into statute.
“One of the very first things that I will do will be to reinstate the executive order that Gov. Sebelius put in place and the Gov. Brownback rescinded,” Kelly said.
But she promised to go one step further.
“I am going to work with the Legislature to actually make sure we get this in statute so no governor going down the line can unilaterally strip those rights from LGBTQ” employees, Kelly told a standing-room only crowd.
Svaty has made restoring LGBT protections a top priority if he’s elected.
Following Kelly in the speaking order, Svaty said he would push for statutory protections for LGBT state employees.
“Kansas needs to be sending a message to anyone who’s left the state because they felt discriminated against: We are open again.”
Brewer also said he would first sign an executive order re-establishing those rights and later call for legislation that would put them on the books.
“Discriminating against one particular group leaves the door open to allow individuals to come back through at a later date…to discriminate against others,” Brewer said. “That door will always be shut in my administration.”
Kelly, Svaty and Brewer were joined at the debate by Republican former state Sen. Jim Barnett at the Johnson County Central Resource Library in Overland Park.
The forum – with attendance so big that a handful of people had to stand outside the meeting room – also was attended by a group of lesser-financed candidates that included Democrat Arden Andersen, Republican Patrick Kucera, Libertarian Jeff Caldwell and independent Rick Kloos.
Barnett said he would sign the order from the first day, but didn’t add anything about pursuing a state law on the issue.
“We have 50,000 open jobs in this state right now,” Barnett said, “and one of the reasons is we look like a state that can’t get beyond talking about bathroom issues.
“It’s part of the image problem we have in the state,” he said. “We need to change that image.”
