Ohio House Democrats and gay-rights advocates are calling out Speaker Larry Householder for not extending anti-discrimination protections to LGBTQ House employees.

Minority Leader Emilia Strong Sykes, D-Akron, said she failed to secure the protections while lobbying majority Republican House officials amid the revision of the employee handbook and policies completed on Friday.

"This is a major concern of members of the Democratic caucus," Sykes said in a conference call with reporters, noting that Householder was elected speaker because of Democratic votes from her members.

LGBTQ employees of the House will continue to "fear being terminated simply because they are not protected under the law and because of who they love or the gender they identify or express," Sykes said.

The minority leader said she was told LGBTQ protections were not added to House policy because Ohio does not have a statewide law prohibiting discrimination against gays, lesbians and others.

Sykes pointed out that Republican Gov. Mike DeWine issued an executive order upon taking office early this year that forbids discrimination in state employment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender expression or identity.

The Ohio Senate also forbids employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, Sykes said.

When asked why gays are not protected from employment discrimination, House Republican spokesman Gail Crawley said: "The Ohio House of Representatives values its staff and is committed to an inclusive, professional work environment. It is the ongoing practice of the Ohio House to evaluate employees based on their knowledge, skills and abilities."

Columbus City Attorney Zach Klein, a Democrat, also criticized the House's lack of employment protections.

"What's the purpose of allowing this overt discrimination in the Ohio House?" Klein asked.

Columbus ordinances forbid discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and House employees could file complaints with the city, he said.

Rep. Mike Skindell, D-Lakewood, said he is working to piece together a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers to introduce and pass a House bill to forbid discrimination in housing and employment against the LGBTQ community. Such a bill has been introduced in each legislative session since 2003 without winning passage. "We, as government, need to set an example," he said.

Equality Ohio spokesman Grant Stancliff said hundreds of Ohio businesses have adopted policies protecting gays from discrimination in the workplace and that the House should follow suit. The Ohio Chamber of Commerce is among those that support passage of a law forbidding LGBTQ discrimination statewide.

The offices of Secretary of State Frank LaRose, Auditor Keith Faber and Treasurer Robert Sprague, all Republicans, also protect employees from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation.

A spokesman for Attorney General Dave Yost, also a Republican, said the office's anti-discrimination policy includes sexual orientation, but The Dispatch noted it is not listed among the protected classes of employees. Yost spokesman Dave O'Neil pointed to a section forbidding a hostile workplace and unwelcome conduct, including concerning a person's sexual orientation or gender identity. The policy dates to 2015 and the tenure of Republican Gov. Mike DeWine when he was attorney general.

"Our interpretation and application of our anti-discrimination policy is that LGBTQ applicants and employees are protected from discrimination," O'Neil said. "And our commitment to anti-discrimination doesn’t end there: One of the office’s diversity and inclusion networks — an attorney general office-sponsored employee organization that puts on events to build an inclusive work environment — is LGBTQ."