LePage filed the friend-of-the-court brief in the wake of refusing to sign a bill that would ban the discredited practice of conversion therapy
Westbrook, MAINE – Governor LePage has joined a group of 16 states urging the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that companies should be allowed to fire workers based on their sexual orientation and gender identity without violating federal workplace discrimination law.
Governor Paul LePage signed on to the initiative along with two other GOP governors—Matthew Bevin of Kentucky and Phil Bryant of Mississippi—and 13 Republican Attorneys General. The group filed a friend-of-the-court brief asking the Supreme Court to overturn an appeals court decision against a Michigan funeral home that fired a transgender worker.
“After refusing to protect LGBTQ+ youth in Maine from conversion therapy, Governor LePage has turned his efforts to ward making sure businesses can fire workers based on their sexual orientation and gender identity,” said Maine Democratic Party Phil Bartlett. “Workplace discrimination laws are in place to ensure that all employees, regardless of their gender, race, or sexual orientation are treated with basic human dignity and fairness. By working to exclude LGBTQ+ Mainers from these protections, Governor LePage has once again shown that he does not stand with Mainers who are overwhelmingly in favor of upholding these basic standards of decency.”
Maine is one of 20 states and Washington, D.C., with laws that directly ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
The full list of states that filed the brief are: Nebraska, Alabama, Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, S. Carolina, S. Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, Wyoming, Kentucky , Maine, Mississippi
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