BY BTL STAFF
WASHINGTON – The Department of Labor published a new rule to prohibit businesses that contract with the federal government from engaging in workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
The rule implements the historic LGBT non-discrimination Executive Order 13672 that was signed by President Obama in July, prohibiting federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating in employment practices on the bases of gender identity and sexual orientation. The rule will appear in the Federal Register on Dec. 4 and will take effect 120 days later.
The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) welcomes this move by the Administration toward implementing stronger protections for millions of LGBT workers across the country.
"We are pleased that the administration has taken this next step and we're eager to continue working with them to clarify more and more in every possible way that job discrimination against transgender people is illegal, always and everywhere, regardless of where the worker lives and what kind of employer they have," NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling said.
"Today's guidelines also represent another step forward on the road to a nation free from discrimination. In the 1970s, the Task Force was instrumental in the introduction of the first comprehensive nondiscrimination bill in Congress by the legendary Bella Abzug; we continued to push hard for more protections in the states, through the courts and through important EEOC rulings. We advocated for executive actions to provide more protections for both federal employees and the employees of federal contractors. We won't stop until strong federal employment non-discrimination legislation is the law of these entire United States," said Rev. Darlene Nipper, deputy executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force.
New Non-Discrimination Rule Implemented Federally
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