Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback on Tuesday did away with an executive order that for eight years had protected gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender state workers.

The Kansas City Star reported the rule, put it place by the Republican's predecessor Democrat Kathleen Sebelius, had said that workers could not be discriminated against, fired or harassed because of their gender identity or sexual orientation. Brownback replaced it with an order that only shields employees on the basis of race, religion, gender, age or country of origin.

Tom Witt, who heads the state's leading gay-rights group, called the decision an "outrage." State workers could now be judged on whom they love, rather than on their job performance, the executive director of Equality Kansas argued.

"Gay, lesbian, and transgender state employees across Kansas have trusted they would be safe from discrimination and harassment in their workplace," Witt said, "but Sam Brownback has, by erasing their job protections, declared 'open season' on every one of them."

The governor insisted that he was merely trying to do away with so-called "additional protected classes" and his new executive order "ensures that state employees enjoy the same civil rights as all Kansans."

The former member of the U.S. House of Representatives has aggressively pushed conservative policies since becoming governor in 2011, the Los Angeles Times noted.

Still, it is unusual to see a state take away legal protections from gay and lesbian residents rather than add them, Doug Bonney, the legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Kansas, argued.

"This executive order was the only thing in Kansas protecting those people," Bonney said. "I'm sorry to say that this opens it up to discrimination -- and there's no good reason for that."

Republican state Rep. John Rubin, a former federal judge, defended Brownback's reasoning. If sexual orientation is not considered a protected class at the federal level, the issue should be left to the Legislature, he told the Kansas City Star.

"Whether (gays and lesbians) should be a protected class is a separate question," Rubin said. "But (sexual orientation) isn't a protected class until we say it is."

Related