BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – A judge has thrown out an executive order issued by Louisiana’s governor that was aimed at protecting the rights of LGBT people in state government.

Judge Todd Hernandez ruled Wednesday that Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ anti-discrimination order is unconstitutional. The order prohibited discrimination in government and state contracts based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The decision delivered a significant victory to Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry, who filed the lawsuit challenging the LGBT-rights order.

Edwards said his order, with an exception for contractors that are religious organizations, is a statement that Louisiana doesn’t discriminate. Landry said it tries to establish a new protected class of people that doesn’t exist in law and that lawmakers refused to add.

Landry has blocked dozens of legal services contracts that contain the anti-discrimination language.