TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) |Florida Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried is adding sexual orientation and gender identity to her department’s list of workplace protections against discrimination.
The Jan. 18 announcement means the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will include LGBT employment protections along with those based on race, religion, ethnicity, gender, age and disability.
It is the first agency to extend protections to transgender employees and applicants.
Fried was sworn in earlier this month and is the only Democrat to hold a statewide office in Florida.
She said she’s encouraging the state’s other two Cabinet members to enact similar policies.
