Obama Will Not Sign Employment Non-Discrimination Executive Order

Demonstrating yet again that he's only too happy to throw LGBT Americans under the bus when he deems it politically expedient, Barack Obama has made it clear based on reports following a meeting at the White House that he will not sign an ENDA like executive order that would have barred anti-LGBT employment discrimination by federal contractors. True, such an executive order would have left millions of LGBT Americans living in anti-gay, hell hole states like Virginia unprotected, but it would have been a start. Apparently, Obama again is displaying his attitude that LGBT voters will support him no matter what simply because the alternative is far worse. It's a case of cynical politics at its worse. Here are highlights from MetroWeekly on this issue:

At 3 p.m. today [yesterday], LGBT advocates went to the White House to attend a meeting being led by White House senior advisor Valerie Jarrett to discuss advocates and the administration's work addressing anti-LGBT workplace discrimination, according to two sources familiar with but not attending the meeting.

The LGBT organization advocates attending the meeting and others have been pushing President Obama to issue an executive order banning employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity among federal contractors.

Although the White House has endorsed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the House Republican leadership opposes the bill and the Senate did not move the bill in the 111th Congress, when it had more Democrats in the chamber.

The government also has another route -- the executive order path -- in the case of a not insignificant number of employers. Because 22 percent of the jobs in this country are with employers who contract with the federal government, according to Freedom to Work's Almeida, the Department of Labor has some authority to redress discrimination by federal contractors.

In an updated story, MetroWeekly confirms that no such executive order is in the offing:

President Obama does not plan to sign an executive order at this time banning federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, according to a statement from Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese. A senior administration official confirmed the news to Metro Weekly.

"Earlier today, we were told that the Administration is not ready to move forward with a federal contractor nondiscrimination executive order at this time," Solmonese said of the meeting first reported by Metro Weekly. "We are extremely disappointed with this decision and will continue to advocate for an executive order from the president. The unfortunate truth is that hard-working Americans can be fired simply for being gay or transgender. Given the number of employees that would be covered by this executive order, it represents a critical step forward."

The move is a blow to advocates, many of whom had been pushing for action over the past several months. Tico Almeida, the founder of Freedom to Work, had told Metro Weekly repeatedly that he was confident the president would sign such an order -- by this June at the latest.

The Task Force's Carey, however, countered: "LGBT people and their families should not continue to be forced to live in fear of losing their livelihoods, their homes, their ability to provide for their families because an employer discriminates. And employers who do discriminate certainly should not be rewarded with taxpayer-funded government contracts."