A Louisiana judge ruled Wednesday that Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, exceeded his authority by issuing an LGBT workplace executive order.
Edwards said the order, issued in April, would protect state employees from discrimination based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. But Louisiana’s Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry challenged him, claiming the order went too far by demanding organizations compromise their beliefs on marriage and sexuality as a condition of winning government contracts.
Judge Todd Hernandez sided with Landry and threw out the order, saying it attempted to create or expand existing state law. Edwards promptly announced he intended to appeal the verdict....