Why an executive order banning LGBT discrimination is a big, $250 billion deal

In lieu of passing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which seem out of reach at this time, LGBT advocates have asked President Obama to at the very least issue an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Some states with large federal contracts have protections on a state level already, but check the graphic above - all those orange states offer no protections while taking in billions in federal contracts.

The White House has repeatedly said that a legislative solution that would affect all employers is the best solution for the problem. White House folks say an executive order could be repealed by the next President.

But with the political priorities what they are today, why not issue the executive order?

From Buzzfeed:

Nearly $250 billion in federal contracts given out in the last fiscal year went to contractors operating in states where the companies could fire a worker solely because the person is gay, lesbian or bisexual, a new report has found. A group of organizations that have been urging President Obama to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers will be releasing the new report Tuesday as a step in increasing pressure on the president to act during tax time.

The report, a copy of which was provided to BuzzFeed Monday night, also has found that nearly $300 billion in federal contracts were given out in states that have no specific state-level protections against anti-transgender discrimination.

Although federal government employees are protected from anti-LGBT discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, there is currently no protection for employees of federal contractors against sexual orientation discrimination and protections against gender identity discrimination are unclear. And while most of the top federal contractors have policies against LGBT discrimination, the report aims to draw attention to the limits employees would have in states without legal protections.

As Joe Jervis at JoeMyGod points out, even though an executive order would only affect companies that do business with the federal government, it's a start.  A start with $250B in federal money attached to it.

(via JMG)