In his continuing efforts to provide equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans, President Obama is scheduled to issue an Executive Order to protect LGBT employees of federal contractors and the federal government from employment discrimination. The order is expected to cover both sexual orientation and gender identity.
LGBT Weekly publisher, Stampp Corbin, was invited to the ceremony. Corbin said, “This is another step forward full LGBT equality across the nation. President Obama will go down in history as the civil rights president of the Millennium.” Corbin was the Co-Chair of the 2008 Obama campaign’s National LGBT Leadership Council.
The issuance ceremony will take place on Monday, July 21, 2014 at the White House. The Executive Order is considered a pivotal event given the recent controversy over the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) that is being considered by Congress. ENDA would provide the same protections as the Executive Order to all employees in the US with one major difference; the terms of the religious exemption. The Executive Order maintains the religious exemption outlined in an Executive Order signed by George W. Bush in 2002. The ENDA exemption is considered to go much further.
Many LGBT rights groups have rejected the concept of including a religious exemption in the ENDA legislation and have withdrawn their support. Some LGBT organizations, most notably the Human Rights Campaign, have ridiculed the religious exemption but have not gone as far as formally withdrawing their support for ENDA.
While President Obama’s Executive Order will be welcomed with open arms by all in the LGBT community, it will also further deepen the divide within LGBT rights organizations about how to move forward with employment protections on Capital Hill.
