Have you read this BuzzFeed report by Chris Geidner yet? You should. Here’s the first three paragraphs:
WASHINGTON — 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.
President Obama has displayed a greater willingness to employ executive orders lately, and this could have a huge effect on state-level discrimination issues. The federal government should lead by example. This seems like a low-risk executive order, but the Obama administration has been strangely resistant thus far. Let’s see what happens if we make some noise.