Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a
Republican, on Wednesday signed an executive order protecting state
workers from discrimination that excludes LGBT people.
The order, titled “Reaffirming
Commitment to Diversity in Government,” prohibits discrimination on
the basis of age, sex, race, color, religion, national origin,
marital status and disability.
DeSantis edged out Democrat Andrew
Gillum in November; the candidates were separated by just 1
percentage point.
Equality Florida criticized DeSantis in
a statement.
“Equality Florida is deeply
disappointed to see that LGBTQ employees and contractors have been
left out of the governor's executive order,” said Joe Saunders,
senior political director for Equality Florida.
“It’s hard to believe that Gov.
DeSantis and his staff are not aware of the LGBTQ community’s call
for these protections following the Pulse tragedy and therefore it is
hard to interpret this as anything less than a purposeful omission,”
Saunders said, referring to the 2016 mass shooting at a gay bar.
(Related: Die-in,
vigils mark second anniversary of Pulse shooting.)
“We look forward to a dialogue with
Gov. DeSantis about why LGBTQ employees have been omitted from this
critical policy and how he plans to make sure that all Floridians,
regardless of who they are or who they love, can be protected from
discrimination,” Saunders added.
DeSantis' predecessor, former Governor
Rick Scott, a Republican now serving in the U.S. Senate representing
Florida, also refused to issue an order protecting the LGBT
community.