Washington Post: Obama Should Sign an ENDA Executive Order

Here in Virginia, LGBT citizens have absolutely zero legal protections against employment discrimination and many in our community are routinely fired solely because of their sexual orientation. Just last week and individual called me who had been fired after 15 years with a company because their sexual orientation had become an issue in the employer's mind. Meanwhile, at the federal level the Employment Non-Discrimination Act has languished in Congress and gone nowhere for many years. Lately, the Williams Institute has made an argument that it's time for Barack Obama to take matters into his own hands to the extent practical and issue an executive order that would be binding on businesses doing business with the federal government. Yes, countless employees would remain unprotected, but it would be a start, especially in Virginia where there are many, many businesses that contract with various branches of the federal government. In an editorial, the Washington Post makes the case for why Obama needs to take this step. Here are highlights:

CONTRACTORS THAT DO business with the federal government, according to the Labor Department, employ roughly 26 million people, 22 percent of the workforce. In exchange for federal work, contractors have to agree not to discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion or sex. But the legal protections do not extend to sexual orientation or gender identity.

Federal legislation to prohibit employment discrimination against gay people has been introduced in virtually every congressional session for the past two decades with no success. . . . . Gay rights advocates fear that gay and transgender employees of federal contractors could be left vulnerable for years to come if a Republican takes the White House. There is an alternative, they argue: President Obama can act now through an executive order to extend such protections.

In the 1960s, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law the executive order that obligates contractors to adopt nondiscriminatory employment practices. Mr. Obama could amend that order or issue a new one to order federal contractors not to discriminate in their workplaces on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. He would have the vast majority of Americans on his side: A poll conducted last year of likely 2012 voters showed that 73 percent of respondents favored workplace protections for gay and transgender people.

An executive order affirming nondiscrimination would, according to a new study from the Williams Institute, extend these protections to the 16.5 million employees who work for contractors that do not have such policies.

Mr. Obama deserves credit for his efforts to eliminate “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which prevented gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military. He has rightly criticized the Defense of Marriage Act for withholding from same-sex couples federal benefits and responsibilities enjoyed by their heterosexual counterparts. He should continue on this path by issuing an executive order that makes clear that there should be no room for discrimination in the American workplace.

As many readers know, I experienced first hand what it's like to be fired for being gay. Yes, the law firm - as do most anti-gay employers - tried to dress the situation up as something else, but one doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to connect the anti-gay comments and other dots to know what's really going on.