Democrats have urged Obama to sign an executive order to ban federal contractors who are guilty of LGBT discrimination.
The President, who received a letter which by signed by several Democrats and led by Jared Polis and Frank Pallone, read, “It is unacceptable that it remains legal to fire or refuse to hire someone based on his or her sexual orientation or gender identity. Federal law continues to allow this and discrimination based on sexual orientation is legal in 29 states and discrimination because of gender identity is legal in 34 states. Action at the federal level can put a stop to these unfair and discriminatory workplace practices in every state.”
Protection for all workers and not just those hired by federal contractors has been supported by Obama ever since his election as the President of the United States in 2008 but he has backed away from signing the Employee Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) since then.
Advocates of this act believe that the executive order signed by the President that bans federal contractors who discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity will not only protect some LGBT workers but also pave the way for passage of the ENDA.
When the order is signed this will protect almost 16.5 million LGBT workers in the United States, says analysts from the William Institute of the UCLA School of Law.
It must be said that this isn’t the first time a letter was sent to the President from Democrats and activist groups.