With the strokes of a pen, Obama will have very real and immediate impact on lives of LGBT people

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HRC Statement on the LGBT Executive Order to be Signed Monday:

July 18, 2014 by Charlie Joughin – hrc.org

Following the news that President Obama will sign an executive order Monday outlawing anti-LGBT discrimination among federal contractors and federal employees, Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Chad Griffin issued the following statement:

“With the strokes of a pen, the President will have a very real and immediate impact on the lives of millions of LGBT people across the country. Each and every American worker should be judged based on the work they do, and never because of a fundamental aspect of who they are – like their sexual orientation or gender identity. These actions from the President have the potential to be a keystone in the arch of his administration’s progress, and they send a powerful message to future administrations and to Congress that anti-LGBT discrimination must not be tolerated. We also call on Congress to immediately pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.”

draft of the executive order, as of July 15:

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.

2009 -

Oct 28 – President Obama signed The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Matthew Shepard Act, is an American Act of Congress
2010 -
President Obama authorizes the US State Department to provide assistance to LGBT defenders and advocates through the US Embassies abroad
2012 -
May 9 - Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to publicly announced support for same-sex marriage

2013 -

Feb. 22 - President Obama administration urges U.S. Supreme Court to strike down DOMA
Jun. 26 – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry announced that the US will give visa applications of gay and lesbian spouses in the same manner as heterosexual couples
Jun. 28- US Office of Personnel Management extends federal rights and benefits to married gay and lesbian federal employees and their families
Jul. 12 - The Social Security Administration announced that it would begin accepting benefit claims related to same-sex marriage
Aug. 2 – U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry Announcemens on Visa Changes for Same-Sex Couples
Aug. 14 - DOD Announces Same-Sex Spouse Benefits
Aug. 29 – Treasury and IRS Announce That All Legal Same-Sex Marriages Will Be Recognized For Federal Tax Purposes, Social Security Announces the Processing of claims for same-sex couples
Sept. 23 - First WH Bi Conference
Sept. 24 – Pres Obama’s nominee Todd Hughes, become the nation’s first openly gay federal appeals judge
Oct. 31 - Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel directed the chief of the National Guard Bureau to meet with the adjutants general of nine [of the remaining] states [not in compliance] to resolve the issue of those states denying ID cards to same-sex spouses at National Guard facilities

2014 –

Jan. 10 - Attorney General Eric Holder recognizes the marriages of more than 1,000 same-sex couples in Utah that took place before the Supreme Court put those unions on hold
Mar 14 – President Obama’s Judge Staci Michelle Yandle, an openly gay African-American woman, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
Jun 19 – President Obama’s nominee Judith Ellen Levy was confirmed by the Senate as the first openly lesbian federal judge in Michigan
Jun 19 – President Obama’s nominee Darrin P. Gayles becomes the first black, openly gay male judge was appointed to District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida
Jun 20 – President Obama announces a rule that makes legally married same-sex couples eligible for benefits under the Family and Medical Leave Act in all 50 states

Jun 24 – White House Global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Human Rights Forum

Jul 21 - President Obama will sign an executive order Monday outlawing anti-LGBT discrimination among federal contractors and federal employees . . .