TOPEKA (AP) – Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and people who’ve undergone sexual reassignment surgery are now covered by a policy prohibiting discrimination in hiring and other employment decisions in much of state government.

Gov. Kathleen Sebelius signed an executive order Friday updating the state’s anti-discrimination policy. The order, effective immediately, applies to about 25,000 of the state’s 41,000 employees.

The order requires agencies under the governor’s direct control to make sure they have programs to prevent on-the-job harassment and, in wording to strengthen existing language, to see that Kansans with disabilities are treated fairly in employment decisions.

NEW YORK (AP) – Four actors from “Grey’s Anatomy,” the ABC hit that fired Isaiah Washington for anti-gay slurs, are featured in a new ad campaign preaching tolerance for gays and lesbians.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation on Tuesday released 25 new public service ads that it will encourage TV networks to air. The ads feature celebrities talking about either the power of anti-gay words or the importance of accepting a gay or lesbian family member.

T.R. Knight, Sara Ramirez and Kate Walsh of “Grey’s Anatomy” all made ads. Alexandra Billings, a transgender actress who appeared in one episode of the medical drama, also participated.

Washington wasn’t included, although he filmed a separate public service announcement for GLAAD that aired on ABC earlier this year. He was fired from the series for using an anti-gay slur backstage at the Golden Globe Awards in January while denying he had used the word earlier against Knight.

GLAAD didn’t specifically seek out “Grey’s Anatomy” stars, said Damon Romine, the organization’s entertainment media director. It produced the spots at its media awards event in April, and approached celebrities who appeared there to participate, he said.

”Be an ally. Be a friend,” tennis star Martina Navratilova says in one of the spots, echoing the campaign’s theme.

A handful of cable networks, including the Sundance Channel and Lifetime, have agreed to run the ads and GLAAD will be approaching more to participate, Romine said.

Actors Rachel Griffiths, Marlee Matlin, Rebecca Romijn and Lance Bass are among the 21 other celebrities featured in the ads.

”It is incredibly important to reach out to a wide spectrum of people, to encourage the support and understanding from those who might become our straight allies and also to dispel the damaging, false myths and unfounded fears propagated by bigots and zealots,” said former pro basketball player John Amaechi, another participant.

NEW YORK (AP) – Jerry Lewis dropped an anti-gay slur – the same one that got Isaiah Washington of “Grey’s Anatomy” in trouble – during the 18th hour of his annual Labor Day telethon.

He apologized Tuesday for a “bad choice of words.”

The 81-year-old showman – prowling about the stage during the live telecast Monday in Las Vegas – was goofing around and dodging his cameraman, then went into a ramble about imaginary family members.

“Oh, your family has come to see you,” he said, speaking to the camera and gesturing toward thin air.

”You remember Bart, your older son,” he said, and motioning toward another unseen character, “Jesse, the illiterate f——-.

“No,” Lewis said, quickly stopping himself before continuing.

Monday’s monologue prompted a critical statement Tuesday from the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

Neil Giuliano, GLAAD president, called Lewis’ use of the term “simply unacceptable.”

“It also feeds a climate of hatred and intolerance that contributes to putting our community in harm’s way,” Giuliano said.

In a statement Tuesday, Lewis said he was making “a joking comment to a member of my production team.”

“I apologize to anyone who was offended,” he went on. “Everyone who knows me understands that I hold no prejudices in this regard. In the family atmosphere of the telethon, I forget that not everyone knows me that well.

”That something like this would distract from the true purpose of the telethon pains me deeply. ... I accept responsibility for what I said. There are no excuses,” he said.

Lewis’ telethon, in its 42nd year, set a new record by raising $63.7 million to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association, topping last year’s event by $3 million.

PORTLAND (AP) – Gay rights supporters from Massachusetts say they plan a Web site to post the home addresses and phone numbers of people who sign petitions to block two gay rights laws passed by the 2007 Oregon Legislature.

“We all know there’s a lot of homophobia out there,” said Aaron Toleos, “but this puts a face on it.”

Toleos is co-director of the effort, called KnowThyNeighbor.org, that marks the latest turn in the fight over the laws that ban discrimination against gays and give same-sex couples most state benefits of marriage through legal domestic partnerships.

Conservatives and church groups are collecting signatures in hopes of blocking both laws from taking effect Jan. 1, instead putting them to a statewide vote in November 2008.

Opponents of the laws have until Sept. 26 to turn in about 55,000 valid petition signatures.

Marylin Shannon, a former Republican state lawmaker who’s involved with the petition drive, said she thinks the plan to post petition signers’ addresses and phone numbers on the Internet is an attempt to intimidate people from signing. Such a move threatens freedom of speech, Shannon said.

“I think it’s a mistake on their part,” Shannon said. “You don’t threaten, you reason with people, to get voters on your side. People feel powerless when they’re threatened.”

Toleos said social conservatives who sign the petitions should have the courage of their convictions and be willing to have their identities made public.

Toleos, a Democrat who is heterosexual and married, co-founded KnowThyNeighbor.org with Tom Lang, a gay Republican who is also married, to list the names and addresses of anti-gay rights petition signers in Florida and Massachusetts – two states where the battle over gay rights has been especially intense.

Toleos notes that the petitions are public documents.

“We don’t want people yelling at each other,” Toleos said. “It’s more constructive to have a conversation. It may be uncomfortable but it’s very much needed.”

Gay rights supporters such as Toleos and Brandon Berg, the Oregon spokesperson for KnowThyNeighbor, say the opponents’ petition drive threatens the rights gays and lesbians have been seeking for decades, such as the law to ban discrimination against gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people in employment, housing and public accommodations.

“People couldn’t believe there was not a law on the books saying it’s not OK to fire somebody on the basis of sexual orientation,” Berg said.

Oregon House Majority Leader David Hunt, who supports the new gay rights laws, said that during the legislative session opponents circulated home and cell phone numbers for lawmakers, resulting in hundreds of nuisance calls and thousands of junk e-mails, many from out of state.

“That was over the top,” Hunt said. “And I think it did have a little backlash.”

The state’s largest gay rights group, Basic Rights Oregon, is avoiding the KnowThyNeighbor Web site effort.

“We are not involved in this,” said John Hummel, executive director. “We are concentrating our efforts on gathering support for equality, and getting people to support the laws that have been passed.”

Petitioners hoping to block the gay rights laws reportedly are struggling to gather signatures.

It is getting no help from the Oregon Family Council, which led the successful effort in 2004 to persuade Oregon voters to enact a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

The Oregon Republican Party endorsed the petition in a resolution backing a number of conservative initiatives issued in June, but has offered little more support.

But David Crowe, executive director of Restore America, a conservative Christian group, said he has found support in churches across the state and hopes petitioners can get enough signatures by the deadline.

Gay rights supporters say they will wait to see whether enough valid signatures are collected by the deadline before launching the Web site because they must rely on volunteers to manually enter names, addresses and phone numbers – unlike Massachusetts and Florida, where those records are stored electronically.

And Sebelius endorsed a legislative proposal to prohibit discrimination against gays and lesbians in housing and private employment. Its backers hope her order will increase support for such a policy.

Two dozen activists stood behind Sebelius during a ceremony in her Statehouse office and broke into applause after she signed her order.

“I’m sorry it took us so long,” Sebelius said as she handed out pens to the activists.