You neither forfeit your rights, nor are exempted from laws, because your are a public employee instead of a private employee.
“You are subject to them same rights and protections whether you work for the private or public sector.”
The rights and protections of elected officials are not the same as regular employers.
That is absolutely true....No argument on that point.
But what we have here, is standup resistance to a law that should be ignored and resisted by anyone and everyone who can accept the resulting costs.