President Obama, after being greeted by loud cheers and a standing ovation, signed two executive orders July 21 prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity among federal employees and contractors.
"Thanks to your passion and advocacy and the irrefutable rightness of your cause, our government—the government of the people by the people and for the people—will become just a little bit fairer," Obama said to the crowd, which included many LGBT rights activists.
Obama was joined onstage, according to BuzzFeed, by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe; Deputy Secretary of Labor Chris Lu; Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Director Pat Shiu; Rev. Delman Coates, senior pastor of Mt. Ennon Baptist Church, in Clinton, Maryland; Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Center for the Union for Reform Judaism; and advocates Kylar Broadus, Michael Carney, Anne Vonhof and Faith Cheltenham.
The first order amends Executive Order 11246, issued by President Lyndon B. Johnson, which prohibits federal contractors from discriminating "against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin" to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the list of protected categories.
Obama is also signing an amendment adding the gender identity category to Executive Order 11478, issued by President Richard Nixon, that bars discrimination against federal employees on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, and age. That original order was subsequently amended by Executive Order 13087, issued by President Bill Clinton, to include sexual orientation.
Obama's July 21 orders significantly grant religious organizations with government contracts exemptions only as far as ministerial personnel are concerned. Administrative and staff positions within those organizations are not exempt from the ban. Allowances for religious exemptions recently caused a number of rights organizations to pull back their support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act ( ENDA ).
In a July 21 statement, White House officials said, "At a critical time for our nation's economy, we need all of our workers to be focused on making the most of their talent, skill, and ingenuity, rather than worrying about losing their job due to discrimination. The economy functions best when workers are matched to the jobs with the best fit, maximizing their productivity, increasing wages and helping the bottom line for businesses. Discrimination is not just wrong, it also can keep qualified workers from maximizing their potential to contribute to the strengthening of our economy. For decades, companies have found that benefits and inclusive, flexible, and supportive workplace policies make it easier and more cost effective to recruit, retain, and motivate employees. The same logic applies to extending these basic protections and policies to LGBT workers.
"Today's action is consistent with the President's commitment to advancing equality for the LGBT community, as well as his commitment to expanding opportunity for American workers and strengthening American business. And it is consistent with actions being taken by employers, including many federal contractors, across the country to support workplace equality, because they recognize it improves productivity, reduces turnover and supports their bottom line."
A July 21 statement from Human Rights Campaign ( HRC ) outlined the far-reaching implications of the ban: "President Obama will set strong new standards for federal contractors, which employ 20 percent of the American workforce. In so doing, the Obama administration has guaranteed that 14 million more American workers will be protected from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
HRC President Chad Griffin added, "With this action, President Obama has cemented his legacy as a transformative leader. Consistently, this administration has taken unprecedented and historic executive actions to advance LGBT equality in this country and around the world.
"The focus now shifts to the House of Representatives, where the Employment Non-Discrimination Act must be brought to a vote by the House leadership. A bipartisan coalition of Americans is standing behind LGBT equality, a bipartisan coalition of our elected leaders should be doing the same."
American Civil Liberties Union ( ACLU ) Executive Director Anthony D. Romero called issuing the orders "one of the most important actions ever taken by a president to eradicate LGBT discrimination from America's workplaces. By signing this order, President Obama is building on a bipartisan tradition, dating back over 70 years, of barring discrimination without exception when taxpayer dollars are involved. While there remains much work still to do to achieve the goal of full civil rights protections for LGBT people, we must take time to celebrate the landmarks along the way, and this is a huge win."
Tico Almeida, founder and president of the LGBT organization Freedom to Work, said in a statement that "President Obama's signature sends a strong message: update your workplace policies to protect LGBT employees or forfeit your highly lucrative taxpayer-funded contracts. This is a watershed moment in our country's march toward equality."
Freedom to Work last year filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil, maintaining that the oil giant still discriminates against gay job applicants.
"The clock now starts ticking for ExxonMobil," said Almeida. "The Obama order will go into effect in early 2015, so we're beginning a six-month countdown for ExxonMobil to update its policies to fully protect LGBT employees or the corporation will risk losing hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded contracts."
In a statement, Andre Banks, Executive Director and co-founder of the equality organization All Out, said, "In a single, bold action, President Obama has thrown open the doors of opportunity for millions of lesbian, gay, bi and trans employees. The executive orders set a powerful statement for similar policies at home and abroad. Today, the President has stood up for the powerful and proven idea that employment protections are good business and good policy— without loopholes and compromises that create opportunities to discriminate against a person because of who they are or whom they love."
News release from The White House, Office of the Press Secretary:
Attached is an Executive Order signed today by the President regarding further amendments to Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government, and Executive Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity.
www.windycitymediagroup.com/pdf/WhiteHouseExecutiveOrder.pdf .
