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Executive Order 13672, signed by U.S. President Barack Obama on July 21, 2014, amended two earlier executive orders to extend protection against discrimination in hiring and employment to additional classes. It prohibited discrimination in the civilian federal workforce on the basis of gender identity and in hiring by federal contractors on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity.


Provisions

This executive order amended President Richard Nixon's
Executive Order 11478 Executive Order 11478, signed by U.S. President Richard M. Nixon on August 8, 1969, prohibited discrimination in the competitive service of the federal civilian workforce on certain grounds. The order was later amended to cover additional protecte ...
(1969), which originally prohibited
discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...
in the
competitive service The competitive service is a part of the United States federal government civil service. Applicants for jobs in the competitive civil service must compete with other applicants in open competition under the merit system administered by the Office o ...
of the federal civilian workforce on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap, and age. It had been amended in 1998 by President Bill Clinton's Executive Order 13087 to include sexual orientation. Executive Order 13672 added "gender identity". This executive order also amended President Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965
Executive Order 11246 Executive Order 11246, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 24, 1965, established requirements for non-discriminatory practices in hiring and employment on the part of U.S. government contractors. It "prohibits federal contractors a ...
, which originally punished discrimination by federal government contractors and sub-contractors on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Executive Order 13672 added "sexual orientation and gender identity". The section of this order that applies to the federal workforce is effective immediately. The changes that affect government contractors take effect once the Department of Labor provides regulations supporting them, which White House a spokesman said would occur early in 2015.


Background

While campaigning for the presidency in 2008, Obama had promised an executive order banning workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. On the basis of his campaign statement's, LGBT activists had long expected President Obama to issue an executive order prohibiting government contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. In January 2012, a group of LGBT advocates made their case for an executive order to the staff of Representative Barney Frank, the principal sponsor of federal legislation, the proposed Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), that would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in employment nationwide. It called an executive order an interim measure that would provide "a strong precedent for congressional passage of ENDA." Their presentation included research from the Williams Institute at UCLA to show that many federal contractors' employees were already protected against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation by corporate policy, state statute, or local law. While LGBT advocates remained guarded about the possibility that an executive would be forthcoming, some were optimistic and one even said: "I predict the president will sign the ENDA executive order during the next few months or, maybe, he will save it for pride month in June." In March 2012, 72 Democratic members of Congress led by Representative Frank Pallone of New Jersey asked the president to issue an executive order. They noted that most of the federal government's 25 largest contractors already had such policies, including all of the top five:
Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...
, Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, and
General Dynamics General Dynamics Corporation (GD) is an American publicly traded, aerospace and defense corporation headquartered in Reston, Virginia. As of 2020, it was the fifth-largest defense contractor in the world by arms sales, and 5th largest in the Uni ...
. Questioned about reports that President Obama was not about to release an executive order, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said on April 12 that the administration was supporting ENDA, "a legislative solution to LGBT employment discrimination", a strategy he compared to the president's earlier efforts to win repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. He said: Joe Solmonese, president of the
Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
, called the president's position disappointing and said: "Given the number of employees that would be covered by this executive order, it represents a critical step forward." House members reiterated their request in another letter in March 2013 with 110 signers. In April 2013, the Obama administration told LGBT advocacy groups that it was still supporting ENDA and cited growing support for the legislation in Congress. In late April 2014, Vice President Joseph Biden reiterated the administration position, but agreed there was "no downside" to issuing an executive order covering government contractors. A writer in '' U.S. News & World Report'' noted that the administration had made similar arguments about the need for Congress to legislate an increase in the minimum wage and then, in the absence of Congressional action, issued an executive order in January 2014 to raise the rate paid by government contractors. In a change of position, the White House announced on June 16, that the President planned to issue an executive order covering government contractors and that it would cover approximately 14 million workers. A columnist in '' Forbes'' wrote in response to the announcement that "Discrimination is a nuanced issue, tough to completely clobber with one order from above. But banning it is smart business–and Obama’s leadership on this specific issue is certainly a step in the right direction." Some religious groups asked the President to add exemptions for religious groups that function as federal contractors and object to employing LGBT persons, while others opposed such exemptions, viewing them as "a cover for overt discrimination". On June 25, 160 leaders of churches, religious institutions, and organizations sent a letter to President Obama asking him to exempt them from the requirements of the anticipated executive order. Without "a variety of views on the merits of such an executive order", they suggested language to be included in the order to allow them to maintain "staffing practices consistent with their deep religious convictions as they partner with the federal government via contracting or subcontracting", specifically allow them "religiously grounded employee belief and conduct requirements" as allowed in other contexts under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Signers included Leith Anderson, President, National Association of Evangelicals; Nathan Diament, executive director for Public Policy, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America; Stephan Bauman, President/CEO, World Relief; John Ashmen, President,
Association of Gospel Rescue Missions Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...
; and Rev. Glenn M. Coleman, Presbyterian Church USA. A similar group of 14, including some of his political supporters, wrote the President, on July 1. They reminded him that his earlier opposition to same-sex marriage was based on his religious beliefs and asked him to "find a way to respect diversity of opinion ... in a way that respects the dignity of all parties". Signers included Rev. Larry Snyders of Catholic Charities USA and Dr. Rick Warren of Saddleback Church. U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch, one of the few national political figures to comment in advance of the order's release, also called for the President to include the comprehensive exemption for religious groups included in the version of ENDA that the Senate passed in November 2013. Just as the date for the release of the executive order approached, and religious exemption issue attracted increasing attention and on July 8 many LGBT advocacy groups withdrew their support for ENDA because of the religious exemptions included in the Senate version of the legislation. On July 15, a group of 69 civil rights organizations and religious groups urged the President to take a different course by not only providing no exemption for religious groups and also rescinding the exemptions for religious groups put in place by President George W. Bush in his Executive Order 13279 in 2002. It said: Organizations signing the letter included the
American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the dean of American Jewish org ...
, B'nai B'rith International, Catholics for Choice, the Hindu American Foundation,
Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...
, the
Methodist Federation for Social Action The Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) is an independent network of United Methodist clergy and laity working for justice in the areas of peace, poverty, and people's rights since 1907. History Founding The first decades of the 20th ...
, the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...
, the National Education Association, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Organization for Women, People For the American Way, and the
Unitarian Universalist Association Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations. It was formed in 1961 by the consolidation of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of America, both P ...
.


Release

When signing this order, Obama said "America's federal contracts should not subsidize discrimination against the American people". He called for Congressional action to extend similar protections to all workers, noting that more states recognize same-sex marriage than prohibit discrimination in hiring on the basis of sexual orientation. By amending earlier executive orders, Obama did not create the extensive exemptions some religious groups were demanding, but left in place a narrower exemption established with respect to federal contractors in 2002 by President Bush's Executive Order 13279. That order protected the right of religious organizations engaged in social service activities to "the employment of individuals of a particular religion". It allows religious organizations, even when financed by federal contracts, to use religious belief as the basis for hiring and employment decisions. The White House signing ceremony on July 21, 2014, was attended by Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe, Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work, Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism,
Chad Griffin Chad Hunter Griffin (born July 16, 1973) is an American political strategist best known for his work advocating for LGBT rights in the United States. Griffin got his start in politics volunteering for the Bill Clinton presidential campaign, which ...
of the Human Rights Campaign, Winnie Stachelberg of the Center for American Progress, and U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin
Jeff Merkley Jeffrey Alan Merkley (born October 24, 1956) is an American politician serving as the junior United States senator from Oregon since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, Merkley served as the 64th speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives ...
, the leading proponents of ENDA in the Senate. Ten days later, Obama signed a related Executive Order 13673, "Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces." It required companies receiving federal contracts over a half-million dollars to demonstrate compliance with labor laws, including those with LGBT protections. On March 27, 2017, President Trump revoked Executive Order 13673, meaning that companies no longer must prove their compliance with labor laws to retain their federal contracts. This action indirectly weakened Executive Order 13672.


Reactions

In response, Roman Catholic officials expressed contrasting views. The chairs of two committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a joint statement: They objected in particular to the order's inclusion of gender identity, which they said "is predicated on the false idea that 'gender' is nothing more than a social construct or psychological reality that can be chosen at variance from one's biological sex." They said its implementation would: Father Larry Snyder, president of
Catholic Charities USA Catholic Charities is a network of charities with headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. In 2005, ''Forbes'' magazine ranked it as the fifth largest charity in the United States in terms of total revenue. The organization serves millions of peop ...
, said that the executive order "upholds already existing religious exemptions that will allow us to maintain fidelity to our deeply held religious beliefs." He issued a statement that said: Michael Galligan-Stierle, president of the
Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities The Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU) is a voluntary association of delegates from Catholic institutions of higher learning. History It was founded in 1899 by fifty-three delegates from Catholic colleges across the United ...
(ACCU) issued a statement that said his organization: Douglas Laycock, a professor of law and religious studies at the University of Virginia, noted that the order maintained pre-existing protections for religious organizations: Jenny Yang, vice president of advocacy and policy for World Relief, which works under federal ''grants'' rather than ''contracts'', said she was pleased that the order was limited, but worried that it might be extended in the future: Commenting on behalf of the Family Research Council (FRC), Peter Sprigg called the order and example of "rule by decree" and said: FRC President Tony Perkins echoed Spriggs' language but emphasized the issue of gender identity. He wrote that the executive order required: Robert Jeffress, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, told Todd Starnes of Fox News that: Starnes concluded a column that discussed the executive order with "The Obama administration seems hell-bent on forcing Christians to assimilate to the militant LGBT agenda. Resistance is futile." Andrea Lafferty of the Traditional Values Coalition wrote to supporters that Obama: Few Republican members of Congress commented on the President's action.
House Speaker The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerfo ...
John Boehner John Andrew Boehner ( ; born , 1949) is an American retired politician who served as the 53rd speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 2011 to 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served 13 terms as the U.S. represe ...
, when asked if he had a reaction, said: "Nope. The president signs a lot of executive orders." Questioned again, he said: "Listen, the president is going to make his decisions. He can." A spokesman for
Exxon Mobil ExxonMobil Corporation (commonly shortened to Exxon) is an American multinational oil and gas corporation headquartered in Irving, Texas. It is the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and was formed on November 30, ...
, a large-scale government contractor that has long refused to add sexual orientation and gender identity protection to its corporate personnel policies, announced on July 22 that it planned to comply with the executive order. Dell Inc. issued a statement supporting the president's action.


Enforcement

On December 3, 2014, the Department of Labor announced the text of its rule for enforcing this executive order, which takes effect 120 days following its publication in the ''
Federal Register The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every weekday, except on feder ...
''.


See also

* Executive order (United States)


References


External links


Federal Register: Executive Order 13672Implementation of Executive Order 13672: Final Rule
{{LGBT rights in the United States 2014 in American law History of LGBT civil rights in the United States LGBT law in the United States Executive orders of Barack Obama Transgender law in the United States