By Justin Sink -
President Obama on Monday will sign a new executive order that prohibits federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
"No current federal law adequately protects lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) workers from employment discrimination," a White House official said, announcing the move. "This is both contrary to our values as Americans, and bad for business."
The executive order will not include any additional exemptions for religious entities, beyond one implemented during President George W. Bush's administration that allows religiously-affiliated contractors...
To Read More: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/212734-obama-to-sign-order-protecting-gay-workers
The Huffington Post's take
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Monday signed an executive order banning workplace discrimination against millions of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees of federal contractors and the federal government.
The executive order has two parts: It makes it illegal to fire or harass employees of federal contractors based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and it explicitly bans discrimination against transgender employees of the federal government. The part targeting federal contractors affects 24,000 companies employing roughly 28 million workers, or about one-fifth of the nation's workforce.
"America's federal contracts should not subsidize discrimination against the American people," Obama said during remarks at the White House just before signing the order. "I'm going to do what I can with the authority I have to act."
The provision affecting federal employees takes effect immediately, while employees of federal contractors will have their new protections in place by early next year, according to senior administration officials.
To the relief of the LGBT community, Obama did not include READ MORE
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