LGBT rights dispute between Edwards, Landry heads to court

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The Louisiana attorney general's effort to block Gov. John Bel Edwards' order banning discrimination in state government against LGBT people has reached a courtroom.

Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry says the Democratic governor's anti-discrimination order violates state law and exceeds the governor's authority. Landry's asking Wednesday for a judge to issue a preliminary injunction, prohibiting Edwards from enforcing the order.

Edwards accuses the attorney general of playing politics and says he has the legal authority to issue the protection order he released in April. It prohibits discrimination in government and state contracts based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The order includes an exception for contractors that are religious organizations.

Landry has blocked dozens of contracts to let state agencies hire outside lawyers that contain the anti-discrimination clause.

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The Gayly - 11/16/2016 @ 10:10 a.m. CST.