Obama Will Sign Executive Order Extending LGBT Discrimination Protections To Millions of Americans

President Barack Obama will sign an executive order that will effectively add LGBT workplace protections to some 28 million American workers on Monday. The President will issue an executive order that amends the executive order (11246) that extended discrimination protections to federal contractors, i.e. businesses that have contracts to do work with the federal government, to include sexual orientation and gender identity. This will protect all LGBT workers at federal contractors. The Williams Institute estimates that 11 million people will be protected from sexual orientation discrimination and another 14 million will be protected from gender identity discrimination. The AP estimates that the actions will impact 24,000 companies that do business with the federal government (and their 28 million employees).

The President will also amend an existing executive order (11478) that prohibits discrimination in the federal workplace on the basis of sexual orientation to include gender identity. As the Vice President would say, "this is a big ******* deal."

Chris Geidner has published the July 15th draft text of the order Obama will issue tomorrow:

EXECUTIVE ORDER
Further Amendments to Executive Order 11478, Equal Employment Opportunity in the Federal Government, and Executive Order 11246, Equal Employment Opportunity
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act, 40 U.S.C. 101 et seq., and in order to provide for a uniform policy for the Federal Government to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and take further steps to promote economy and efficiency in Federal Government procurement by prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Amending Executive Order 11478.
Executive Order 11478, as amended, is hereby further amended as follows:
(a) The first sentence of section 1 is amended by substituting “sexual orientation, gender identity,” for “sexual orientation”.
(b) The first sentence of section 7 is amended by substituting “sexual orientation, gender identity,” for “sexual orientation”.
Sec. 2. Amending Executive Order 11246.
Executive Order 11246, as amended, is hereby further amended as follows:
(a) The first sentence of Section 202, paragraph (1) is amended by substituting “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin” for “sex, or national origin”.
(b) The second sentence of Section 202, paragraph (1) is amended by substituting “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin” for “sex, or national origin”.
( c ) The first sentence of Section 202, paragraph (2) is amended by substituting “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin” for “sex, or national origin”.
(d) The first sentence of Section 203, paragraph (d) is amended by substituting “sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin” for “sex, or national origin”.
Section 3. General Provisions.
(a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:
(i) the authority granted by law to an agency or the head thereof; or
(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.
(b) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

Significantly, there are no extra codicils or exemptions based on religion included, which in light of the Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision, became a focal point for religious entities who want to use their "professed religious belief" to trump the application of existing laws.

This is a good thing!