Arizona's New Governor Katie Hobbs Issued LGBTQ+ Protections on Her First Day in Office
Ahead of her official inauguration ceremony on Thursday, Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs issued an executive order Monday strengthening nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ+ workers across the state.
“Ensuring that Arizona is for everyone” — one of Hobbs’ campaign slogans — “requires that every Arizonan should have the opportunity to participate in the workforce,” Hobbs wrote. The order directs the state Department of Administration to compose policies to ensure hiring and recruitment in all state agencies is based on merit rather than sexual or racial profiling, and requires that all new contracts or subcontracts with government agencies include nondiscrimination clauses.
The executive order is the first of many to come in what Hobbs is calling her “First 100 Days Initiative,” which she says “will center around tackling the biggest challenges facing Arizonans.” Other priorities include education, environmental issues, and border security, for which Hobbs endorses increased police funding, according to the governor’s official website.
On the campaign trail, Hobbs promised to make “recruiting, hiring, and elevating women and underrepresented members of our community” a priority for her administration, a promise she appears eager to uphold. Although the order does not establish new rules or legal precedent for nondiscrimination in Arizona (and only applies to government agencies, not other employers), it marks an obvious departure from the politics of her Republican predecessor Doug Ducey, who last year signed multiple bills into law targeting transgender youth and abortion rights.
https://www.them.us/story/katie-hobbs-arizona-governor-lgbtq-executive-order
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Way to go Governor Hobbs 
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