Obama will circumvent Congress to bar LGBT discrimination

Obama will circumvent Congress to bar LGBT discrimination
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The White House announced Monday that President Obama plans to sign an executive order barring federal contractors from discriminating against gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender employees. Though some states already have laws prohibiting LGBT discrimination, 29 have no such laws, according to the Human Rights Campaign.

Obama had asked Congress to send him a bill banning all employers — not just those who contract with the federal government — from discriminating against LGBT employees. Yet House Republicans have refused to act on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which passed the Senate in November by a 64-32 vote.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Jon Terbush

Jon Terbush is an associate editor at TheWeek.com covering politics, sports, and other things he finds interesting. He has previously written for Talking Points Memo, Raw Story, and Business Insider.