President Obama: LGBT Workers Can't Wait
from the Huffington Post
Late Wednesday afternoon, it was reported that the Obama administration had the made the decision to delay issuing an executive order to ensure that federal contractors receiving tax dollars do not discriminate against applicants and employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.
The decision to delay issuing the executive order is extremely disappointing. The reality remains that it is legal to fire or refuse to hire someone based on their sexual orientation in 29 states. Those who are transgender can be fired or denied employment solely based on their gender identity in 34 states. The costs of LGBT workplace discrimination are especially heavy on gay and transgender people of color, who have been shown to face disproportionately high rates of unemployment and poverty.
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In response to the decision to delay the order, the White House said, "The president is dedicated to securing equal rights for LGBT Americans and that is why he has long supported an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit employers across the country from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity."
The ACLU is also fully committed to working to see ENDA enacted into law. However, President Obama could and should follow a bipartisan tradition that dates back to President Franklin Roosevelt and the early beginnings of the civil rights movement by using his executive authority to require nondiscrimination on the part of federal contractors on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
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Further, all of the congressional champions of ENDA have called on President Obama to issue the executive order, including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the four openly gay and lesbian co-chairs of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus.
Amazingly, President Obama has actually already endorsed the order. Metro Weekly reported on March 8 that then-candidate Sen. Obama told the Houston GLBT Political Caucus in a written survey in February 2008 that he would support a "formal written policy of non-discrimination that includes sexual orientation and gender identity or expression ... for all Federal contractors." Additionally, in an interview with The Advocate published Dec. 22, 2010, President Obama said, in response to a question about employment nondiscrimination protections for LGBT workers that was languishing in Congress, "[T]here are still a lot of things we can do administratively even if we don't pass things legislatively. So my ability to make sure that the federal government is an employer that treats gays and lesbians fairly, that's something I can do, and sets a model for folks across the board." Then-Sen. Obama was right in 2008. He was right again in 2010. It is time for President Obama to issue this executive order.
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