President Obama: Sign the Executive Order Adding LGBT Workplace Protections to Millions of American Jobs

President Obama has an Executive Order on his desk, waiting for his signature, that would prohibit companies that do business with the government from discriminating against their employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

That would cover almost one quarter of the American workforce, but the President is dragging his heels. Each day that the President waits means that government agencies and federal contractors are free to fire or to not hire LGBT Americans simply because of who they are. And then-Senator Obama even promised to sign exactly such an Executive Order *in his first term* while campaigning in 2008!

With 73% support among the American public, we can't wait for the President to play politics with our equality. Join us in creating more momentum for an Executive Order by adding your name to this online petition to the President!

Subject: Sign an Executive Order prohibiting LGBT workplace discrimination

Your Letter:

We write to urge you to sign an executive order to ban federal contractors from engaging in anti-LGBT workplace discrimination. Nobody should ever be fired or harassed just because of who they are or whom they love. If corporations are going to take money from American taxpayers, then they should have to abide by American values like judging people based on their talent and hard work, not their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Many companies have already enacted these policies without direction from the federal government, but many more companies will take this positive step once you approve the executive order that your staff has already drafted and recommended you sign. In fact, research by the Williams Institute shows that by issuing an executive order, you will cover millions more additional workers against LGBT discrimination.

Your executive order will be popular: A recent poll by the Human Rights Campaign found that 73% of likely 2012 voters support this very executive order. That support crosses political party lines, with 83% of Democrats, 69% of Independents, and a majority of Republicans in favor of presidential action to stop LGBT discrimination.

Your executive order will be good for businesses and U.S. taxpayers: Most of the top government contractors – companies like Boeing, Raytheon, and Lockheed Martin – already have LGBT non-discrimination rules, and they adopted them because they realize that discrimination is bad for the bottom line. Your executive order will only affect the hold-out companies that still engage in prejudice. As taxpayers, we should never have our money squandered by letting our government subsidize discrimination and harassment.

Most importantly, your executive order is the right thing to do: LGBT Americans deserve full equality under the law, and we expect our elected officials to promote equality of opportunity whenever they can. According to news reports, your staff at the Justice Department and Labor Department have already written and approved the text of the executive order, and all that remains is for you to sign it. We urge you to do so.

President Barack Obama

Phone:(202) 456-1111

Fax:(202) 456-2461