--- title: Kansas Gov Rescinds LGBT Protections description: A new executive order reverses a previous order that barred employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity canonical: https://time.com/3704729/kansas-lgbt-protections/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-02-11T13:37:06.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:59:55.488Z article:section: Politics og:title: Kansas Gov Rescinds LGBT Protections og:description: It reverses a previous executive order from 2007 og:url: https://time.com/3704729/kansas-lgbt-protections/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32534d0f80a5dcc8/69877ea72dce0135679dd7be/sam-brownback.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Sam Brownback og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kansas Gov Rescinds LGBT Protections twitter:description: It reverses a previous executive order from 2007 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt32534d0f80a5dcc8/69877ea72dce0135679dd7be/sam-brownback.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kansas Gov. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Behind the Scenes of Laverne Cox's TIME Cover Shoot [Watch (HLS stream): Behind the Scenes of Laverne Cox's TIME Cover Shoot](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/16Vyqo82.m3u8) (1:40)  _Published 2014-05-30. Actress and LGBT activist Laverne Cox talks to TIME about acceptance of transgender people and awareness of discrimination and civil rights issues_  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Feb 11, 2015 1:37 PM UTC  Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback speaks at the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka, Kan., Jan. 2015. Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback speaks at the Kansas Statehouse in Topeka, Kan., Jan. 2015. Orlin Wagner—AP  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Feb 11, 2015 1:37 PM UTC Kansas Governor Sam Brownback on Tuesday [rescinded protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender state workers.](https://governor.ks.gov/media-room/media-releases/2015/02/10/governor-sam-brownback-issues-executive-orders) The protections had been instituted by then-Govenor and former Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, a Democrat whose 2007 order established “protected class rights” that prohibited employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Brownback, a Republican, made the move by executive order, and he signed a second executive order reaffirming the state’s commitment to bar employment discrimination on the basis of “race, color, gender, religion, national origin, ancestry or age.” “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,” Brownback said in a statement. “Any such expansion of ‘protected classes’ should be done by the legislature and not through unilateral action.” Democrats spoke out against the new order’s reversal on LGBT rights, while state Republicans [had mixed reactions](http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article9694028.html). Tom Witt, executive director of Equality Kansas, told the Kansas City _Star_ that the move was [“an outrage.”](http://www.kansascity.com/news/government-politics/article9694028.html) “Gay, lesbian, and transgender state employees across Kansas have trusted they would be safe from discrimination and harassment in their workplace,” he said, “but Sam Brownback has, by erasing their job protections, declared ‘open season’ on every one of them.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] A lot of it is just about listening to transgender people and taking the lead from trans folks. The reality is that I don't represent. Resent the entirety of the trans community, there's multiple experiences and multiple relationships to one's identity. And so it's really about listening to individuals in terms of how they define themselves and describe themselves, and taking them at their word. Be willing to let go of what, preconceptions we might have about people who are different from for us and taking people on their own terms. [ MUSIC ]. When we look at the discrimination that transgender people face, there, there tends to be inner sections of race and class. The homicide rate for example in the LGBQT communities is highest amount trans women, and then we look at transwomen who are being victims of violence, most is trans women of color. So there's something about race intersecting with the gender issues that we have to look at if we're really interested in ending violence against trans women, for example. And trans people in general. If you wanna improve the unemployment rate in the trans community, if you wanna stop the bullying of LGBTQU. We also have to look at race, and, and I think. The trans movement and LGBT movement in general really has to be a social justice movement where we look at issues of race and class and, and, and just, you know, phobia in general. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3704729/kansas-lgbt-protections/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3704729/kansas-lgbt-protections/"},"headline":"Kansas Gov. 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