Friday April 17, 2015

In a series of announcements over the past month, the Obama administration has taken critical steps to protect LGBT Americans. These historic steps are necessary to make it possible for LGBT Americans to earn a living, use the restroom, and live without the fear of having to undergo harmful so-called conversion therapy.

Fairness for LGBT Federal Workers
On April 8th, President Obama’s Executive Order on LGBT Workplace Discrimination went into effect. The Order prohibits contractors and subcontractors that do $10,000 a year or more with the federal government from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. This provides critical legal protections for LGBT people employed by federal contractors, and ensures they will be judged on the quality of their work, not by who they love.

U.S. Secretary of Labor, Tom Perez, said in a blog post on the Department of Labor’s website:

“Each year, federal contractors and subcontractors receive billions of taxpayer dollars to supply goods, provide services, and perform construction work for government agencies. In return, they are held to a reasonable standard that they may not discriminate in hiring, firing, pay, promotion, and other employment practices. Until today, it was discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, disability, and status as a protected veteran that was prohibited. Now, in the first expansion since 1974, LGBT Americans enjoy these same protections.”

The White House has estimated the order will impact 24,000 companies who receive federal contracts and 28 million people, or about one-fifth of the nation’s workforce.

Protecting Youth
Shortly after the Executive Order went into effect, the White House came out in support of banning harmful so-called conversion therapy for minors. The support came in the form of a formal response to a petition signed earlier this year by more than 120,000 people that lists 17-year-old Leelah Alcorn as its inspiration.

Valerie Jarrett, senior adviser to President Obama, said in an interview with the Washington Blade that the Obama administration has came out in favor of prohibitions on conversion therapy because “young people should be valued for who they are, no matter what they look like, where they come from, or the gender to which they identify or who they love.”

Conversion therapy for minors is already illegal in California and New Jersey as well as in the District of Columbia. Conversion therapy needs to be stopped at the federal level, so no more LGBT youth are subjected to this harmful practice. We applaud the Obama Administration for its support on a ban.

Equal Access
As “bathroom bills” pop up in states across the country where legislators are attempting to reduce transgender people’s ability to chose what restroom to use, the White House has taken a step in the right direction to protect the rights of the transgender community in the workplace.

The White House opened its first gender-neutral restroom in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where White House spokesman Jeff Tiller says many employees have meetings and offices and is next door to the West Wing which houses the president's offices.

"The White House allows staff and guests to use restrooms consistent with their gender identity, which is in keeping with the Administration's existing legal guidance on this issue," Tiller said in a statement.

These announcements are critical steps toward creating an America that celebrates LGBT people and extends to them the fairness and equality we all deserve. We applaud the Obama Administration for their recent efforts to ensure protections for the LGBT community.

Stay Updated: