TOPEKA � Gov. Sam Brownback, speaking after issuing an executive order on religious liberty, said the value is under attack in America. He called it an �odd circumstance� he is now fighting for it here after fighting for it overseas while in Congress.



Last week, the Republican governor said he is considering to propose new religious liberty legislation. This week, Brownback offered few specifics on what a potential bill should do, but said he wants issues of religious liberty �fleshed out� and called on lawmakers to hold hearings next year.



Brownback�s comments came during an interview on a podcast produced by the Family Research Council, a conservative organization opposed to same-sex marriage. Earlier this week, the governor issued an executive order prohibiting state government from discriminating against religious organizations based on their opposition to gay unions.



The order followed a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June granting gay and lesbian couples the right to marry nationwide. Brownback said the effects of the decision were only at the �opening salvos.�



�You�ve got this fundamental value, this fundamental right that the founding fathers came in search of on religious liberty. And during the years when I was in the Congress, in the Senate, this was one of the things I fought for a lot for people overseas, was religious liberty, religious freedom,� Brownback said.



�Because it�s one of the basic hallmarks of a society that allows you to develop societally. And now you�re looking at this very fundamental right being attacked in the United States. It was an odd circumstance for me to start fighting for it at home when I�ve been primarily fighting for it overseas.�



Opponents of the order have hit back hard. Tom Witt, director of the gay rights group Equality Kansas, said Brownback is trying to place the rights of a few above the rights of all Kansans.



�This is not the statement of a democratically elected governor who honors his oath to the constitutions of the United States and the State of Kansas. This is the unhinged raving of a tyrant and a dictator,� Witt said.



Brownback�s suggestion that lawmakers should take up the issue of religious liberty next year has drawn opposition from the Kansas Chamber of Commerce. The organization called further legislation �unnecessary.�



The Chamber said the order was clearly limited to state government action involving clergy, religious leaders and organizations regarding sincerely-held religious beliefs.



�This, in our view, is sufficient and we recommend against any further proposals to expand the scope of this directive or existing state religious freedom law through legislation placing untenable burdens on private sector businesses,� the Chamber said in a statement.



In the past week, Kansas state government has begun treating same-sex married couples the same as other married couples. Same-sex spouses of state workers can join the state employee health plan and married same-sex individuals can get their names changed on drivers licenses. And, according to a court filing by the state Thursday, same-sex married couples can now file joint state income tax returns.



Attention on the practical effects of Brownback�s order have focused on potential consequences for religiously-affiliated adoption agencies that refuse to adopt to gay couples. Ron Nelson, a Lenexa family law attorney, said adoption to gay couples and individuals has grown much more common within the past 10 years.



�Most of the people who are involved are already doing same-sex adoptions or adoptions by same-sex couples or gay or lesbian individuals because most people are most concerned about the children rather than some political agenda,� Nelson said.