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Obama Will Issue LGBT Executive Order

Arash Zandi |
June 16, 2014 | 4:49 p.m. PDT

Executive Producer

President Obama is a vocal supporter of LGBT rights. (Twitter/@BlueDuPage)
President Obama is a vocal supporter of LGBT rights. (Twitter/@BlueDuPage)
President Barack Obama will be issuing an executive order to make discrimination by federal contractors against workers that are based on gender identity or sexual orientation illegal, according to The Daily Beast.

The Obama administration is currently drafting the order and is one of the many recent measures that it has taken regarding LGBT rights. In November 2013, the Senate passed the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), but is still awaiting a vote by House members.

READ MORE: Senate Passes Federal LGBT Anti-Discrimination Bill

It is currently legal in 32 states to discriminate against LGBT employees based on their gender identity and legal in 29 states to discriminate against LGBT employees based on their sexual orientation.

The order will affect about 28 million employees, an estimated 20 percent of all LGBT employees in the United States.

“The action would build upon existing protections, which generally prohibit federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating in employment decisions on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. This is consistent with the president’s views that all Americans, LGBT or not, should be treated with dignity and respect,” said a White House official.

 

Reach Executive Producer Arash Zandi here. Follow him on Twitter here.



 

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