Obama's Wrong Decision on LGBT Job Discrimination

The White House indicated on Wednesday that President Obama would not be issuing an executive order banning discrimination by federal contractors against gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender employees. This decision received rather minimal attention in the national press (only on p. A17 of the New York Times and p. A4 of the Washington Post), and that is a shame. LGBT activists are angry with the White House, and rightly so.

It is perfectly legal under federal law for employers to refuse to hire or to fire employees who are openly LGBT or who are perceived as being LGBT. Less than half the states have laws that prohibit job discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. Although the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) has been proposed in Congress to end such discrimination, it is not close to passing.

Election-year politics almost certainly explain the White House’s failure to issue the executive order. That may be so, but the fact remains that the public in national surveys overwhelmingly agrees that gays and lesbians should have the same job opportunities as heterosexuals. The fact also remains that about 90% of the Fortune 500 prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, and that about half prohibit discrimination based on gender identity. The issue of job discrimination against the LGBT community may be less volatile than the White House fears. It is also a matter of right versus wrong, and on this issue the White House is wrong.