Kasich inexplicably takes the 'T' out of LGBT
Decision renders state government less progressive than, say, Bob Evans Farms, Inc.
BY LYNDSEY TETER
Published: Thursday, January 27, 2011 9:18 AM EST

http://www.theotherpaper.com/articles/2011/01/27/front/doc4d417e9631b3d268125109.txt

Gov. John Kasich doesn't appear to be backing off of a strange decision to exclude transgender Ohioans from an anti-discrimination executive order issued last week.

Activists in the LGBT community were angered when Kasich temporarily allowed a 2007 executive order by former Gov. Ted Strickland to expire, despite a campaign promise to the contrary. The 2007 order declared that no state employee could be fired from or denied a state job on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Kasich's revised order, issued last week, however, did not appease activists. He inexplicably failed to include any protections for the transgender population.

As a result, a symbolic message is resonating.