"America’s federal contracts should not subsidize discrimination against the American people," President Obama said Monday morning as he signed an executive order prohibiting gender identity discrimination in the federal government and prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. Citing the 18 states and many cities that have similarly banned anti-LGBT workplace discrimination, as well as the majority of Fortune 500 companies with anti-discrimination policies, Obama focused on how controversial his executive order is
not. But he also highlighted how far we have to go, saying:
... despite all that, in too many states and in too many workplaces, simply being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender can still be a fireable offense. There are people here today who’ve lost their jobs for that reason. This is not speculative, this is not a matter of political correctness—people lose their jobs as a consequence of this. Their livelihoods are threatened, their families are threatened. In fact, more states now allow same-sex marriage than prohibit discrimination against LGBT workers. So I firmly believe that it’s time to address this injustice for every American.
Not only do a majority of Americans support an Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a majority of Americans believe it is already illegal to fire someone or refuse to hire them because they are gay or transgender. Unfortunately, in too many states it remains legal, and House Republicans are not interested in changing that.