Now that the clock is ticking on his administration, President Obama is getting around to taking care of a bunch of things that didn’t take priority earlier. The latest: an executive order protecting transgender federal employees.
Obama hasn’t actually signed the order yet, but he promised at a White House event that he will. Paired with an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against their workers on the basis of sexual orientation, the second executive order sends a clear signal to the market about what should be standard protections.
“The majority of Fortune 500 companies already have nondiscrimination policies to protect their employees because it’s the right thing to do and because many say it helps to retain and attract the best talent,” Obama said. “And I agree. So if Congress won’t act, I will.”
Of course, Obama could have acted sooner, but he has been pinning his hopes on the moribund legislative body known as the House of Representatives. Of course, the chances of any type of employment protections coming out of the Republican-controlled house are roughly on par with Antonin Scalia serving as Grand Marshall of the San Francisco Pride Parade.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
So now we have promises for two executive orders from Obama. Would someone please send him a pen so he will just sign them?
Mezaien
President Obama, you are the one and only who could pool his move like the way you did. The enemies are the white republican Christian. Thank you for your hard work.
jonjct
The above post is not quite literate, (what is “pool his move”?) so I cannot tell if it is critical and sarcastic, or supportive. The “white republican Christian” is identified as the enemy. Actually the enemy of gay culture, and all of it’s implications, is Is*lam. And, the president was instrumental in handing over several governments (of admitted tyrants), to extremist islamists. Gay brothers are in jail and being tortured in Egypt and other middle eastern sh*itholes, so don’t kid yourself about the enemy Mezaien. Finally, obama is going to sign this legislation because it is an election year and obama is nothing if not an a*sskisser, that’s the only reason it’s being done now. He is a pathetic, pandering loser and history will record him as one of the nation’s worst, most ineffective leaders.
Rex
Gullible. How easily gay liberals (single issue voters) are bought. Forcing the government to allow the mentally ill (gender confused people) who should be diverted to a shrink’s couch.
DB75
@Rex: “Mentally ill”? Are you fucking kidding me? This is probably the worst comment I have ever seen on Queery. You should be ashamed for being such a bigot.
Cam
@jonjct:
Look, we get it that groups like NOM, the LDS church etc… will try to lie and claim that Islam is a huge threat to gays and their groups or churches aren’t but please answer me this question.
Did Islam spend over 100 million dollars and vast numbers of man hours trying to attack gays civil rights, trying to allow companies to fire them legally, trying to keep gay marriage illegal etc.. in the U.S.? No, that was the LDS church. Did ISLAM fund NOM in it’s nationwide push to outlaw any protections for gays and to pass anti-gay laws? No, that was Catholic and Mormon organizations.
So if I lived in Iran or Saudi Arabia I’d worry about Islam coming after me, But we don’t need to worry about that here, because in the U.S. the Mormons and Right Wing evangelical groups are doing exactly the same thing that Islam does to gays in the middle east.
But nice try.
manjoguy
@Mezaien: “…hard work…”, at doing what?! Obama has done so much to bring our country down and pit group against group. “…white, republican, Christian…”? I have seen quotes by Baptist black clergy who are against homosexuality. And Islam? You’d want to be gay living under the dominance of that religion?!
DickieJohnson
@manjoguy: “M” is a seriously afflicted mental case. I keep hoping he’ll simply implode soon, during one of his unintelligible rants.
Saralikesyarr
Thank god. Thank you Mr. Obama for doing something. He is the best president we have ever had. Or at least one of the best in a while.
OrchidIslander
@Saralikesyarr: I agree with you Saralikesyarr, in spite of the headlines that greeted me this morning that said a majority of Americans considered him to be the worse President since World War II. They say that the American manufacturing industry is dead. I think not. We still manufacture a lot of stupid.
northwest
Queerty acts as though President Obama hasn’t done a single thing for gays and yet he’s done more than ANY President has ever even attempted. No need to add the ‘finally’ in the title of this post.
vklortho
@DB75: I don’t know. I’ve seen significantly worse. It’s almost like clockwork that I can click on a trans-related(and many non-trans related) Queerty article and find someone in the comments saying some pretty vile things about trans people. There are definitely some awesome people on Queerty who aren’t transphobic and are very trans positive, but there are some who make the right-wing and radical feminist bigots seem tame in comparison.