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The City Council of Lincoln, Nebraska sees LGBT protections as good for business. (Public domain photo)

LINCOLN, Neb. — Voting 5-0 with abstentions from two Republicans who sought a ballot measure, the Nebraska state capital passed a comprehensive ordinance barring employment, housing and public accommodations discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, according to politics blog Nebraska.watchdog.org.

“It is important for us to do this,” Councilwoman DiAnna Schimek said, agreeing the ordinance would help business. “It is a sign that we are a caring community.”

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White House Press Secretary Jay Carney (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney maintained the Obama administration is committed to passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act as reporters pummeled him Thursday with sharp questions on the administration’s decision not to issue an executive order prohibiting anti-LGBT bias in the workplace.

The questioning, which was initiated by NBC News’ Kristen Welker, began with an inquiry on why Obama won’t issue an executive order barring federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT people

“The president is dedicated to securing equal rights for all LGBT Americans,” Carney said. “And that is why he has long supported an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act which would prohibit employers across the country from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The president is committed to lasting and comprehensive non-discrimination protections, and we plan to pursue a number of strategies to attain that goal.”

Carney said that pursuing a legislative solution to the problem is similar to the approach that the White House took with repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

“And as it did then, our approach to this piece of legislation demonstrates the president’s very firm and strong commitment to non-discrimination and to securing equal rights for all Americans,” Carney said.

In a high-level White House meeting on Wednesday, LGBT advocates were informed the White House wouldn’t issue at this time an executive order against LGBT workplace discrimination. Multiple sources have said the Labor and Justice Departments have cleared the measure and it was awaiting action at the White House.

Carney said a political calculation was “absolutely not” involved in the administration’s decision not to issue the executive order.

“The president is committed to securing equal rights for LGBT Americans and that is why he has long supported ENDA,” Carney said. “I think the president’s record on LGBT issues speaks volumes about his commitment to securing equal rights for LGBT Americans. The approach we’re taking at this time is to try to build support for passage of this legislation, a comprehensive approach to legislate on the issue of non-discrimination.”

Asked by the Washington Blade whether the administration’s decision not to issue the order “at this time” opens the possibility for taking action at a later date, Carney demurred.

“We don’t talk about executive orders that may or may not be under consideration,” Carney said. “In this case, I can tell you that at this time we are not considering such an executive order. We are, however, actively working with stakeholders to build support for passage through Congress of a piece of legislation that would be far more comprehensive than an executive order.”

While Obama pursued legislation to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” his administration twice limited the discharge authority to ease the burden on gay service members and make it more difficult to expel service members under the law.

When the Blade pointed this out during the briefing, Carney said the situations were different.

“It is a separate statement of action and fact,” Carney said. “We are not approaching this at this time through executive authority, through an executive order. We are, however — in another demonstration of the president’s firm commitment to securing equal rights for the LGBT community — aggressively pursuing passage of ENDA. And that requires working with stakeholders and building a body of persuasive evidence that this is the right thing to do. And that is what we’re committed to doing.”

A transcript of the exchange follows:

NBC News: Jay, the president has decided at this moment not to sign an executive order that would ban workplace discrimination by any federal contractor on the basis of sexual orientation. Based on the fact that the president has made past statements saying that he supports non-discrimination policies in the workplace, why not sign this executive order?

Jay Carney: Thank you for the question. The president is dedicated to securing equal rights for all LGBT Americans. And that is why he has long supported an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act which would prohibit employers across the country from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The president is committed to lasting and comprehensive non-discrimination protections, and we plan to pursue a number of strategies to attain that goal. Our hope is these efforts will result in the passage of ENDA, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which is a legislative solution to LGBT employment discrimination.

And I would make the comparison here that pursuing that strategy, the passage of ENDA, is very similar to the approach the president took for the legislative repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

NBC News: Can you make the distinction between ENDA and signing this executive order?  In other words, if he does support ENDA, why not sign this executive order, which relates to a smaller part of the population and get that policy started?

Carney: Again, I think that the DADT repeal is instructive here in terms of the approach that we’re taking at this time. And while it is not our usual practice to discuss executive orders that may or may not be under consideration, we do not expect that an EO on LGBT non-discrimination for federal contractors will be issued at this time. We support, as I just said, legislation that has been introduced — the Employment Non-Discrimination Act — and we will continue to work with congressional supporters to build — sponsors, rather, to build support for it.

We’re deeply committed to working hand-in-hand with partners in the LGBT community on a number of fronts to build the case for employment non-discrimination policies including by complementing the existing body of compelling research with government-backed data and analysis, building a coalition of key stakeholders and decision-makers, directly engaging with and educating all sectors of the business community — from major corporations to contractors to small business — and raising public awareness about the human and financial costs of discrimination in the work force.

NBC News: Tico Almeida, who’s the president of Freedom to Work, has issued a statement saying, “This is a political calculation that cannot stand.”  Is this a political calculation?

Carney: Absolutely not. The president is committed to securing equal rights for LGBT Americans and that is why he has long supported ENDA. I think the president’s record on LGBT issues speaks volumes about his commitment to securing equal rights for LGBT Americans.  The approach we’re taking at this time is to try to build support for passage of this legislation, a comprehensive approach to legislate on the issue of non-discrimination.

And I think, again, the approach that we took in bringing about the repeal — working with Congress to bring about the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is instructive here. And as it did then, our approach to this piece of legislation demonstrates the president’s very firm and strong commitment to non-discrimination and to securing equal rights for all Americans.

Washington Blade: Jay, if it’s not going to happen at this time is there some sort of commitment to issue an executive order at a later time?

Carney: Well, I’m simply saying that our approach is to focus on trying to build and expand support for passage of ENDA. That is our support. In terms of, again — as a rule — and we try to stick to it here — we don’t talk about executive orders that may or may not be under consideration. In this case, I can tell you that at this time we are not considering such an executive order. We are, however, actively working with stakeholders to build support for passage through Congress of a piece of legislation that would be far more comprehensive than an executive order.

…

Blade: It’s highly unlikely that the Congress will pass it given its current makeup. And the President has issued numerous executive orders under the theme “We Can’t Wait” because Congress has been unable to pass job legislation. Why is the President making this distinction with this LGBT jobs issue?

Carney: We believe that this is the right approach to achieve success here in a broad and comprehensive legislative action. And at this time, we’re not considering as a part of that an executive order.

Now, there are executive orders that this president has signed and there are executive orders, either real or imagined, that the president has not acted on, and that’s because we look at each issue and we decide on a strategy that we think makes the most sense to achieving the president’s policy objectives.

…

Blade: I have to correct you on how you said that the president legislatively repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”  While that’s true, he twice took administrative action to limit discharge authority before that repeal legislation was passed. So to say that you need to have legislation and go without administrative action first is not true.

Carney: Well, that’s actually not a correction, Chris. It is a separate statement of action and fact.  We are not approaching this at this time through executive authority, through an executive order.  We are, however — in another demonstration of the president’s firm commitment to securing equal rights for the LGBT community — aggressively pursuing passage of ENDA. And that requires working with stakeholders and building a body of persuasive evidence that this is the right thing to do. And that is what we’re committed to doing.

Watch the video here (via Think Progress)

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The Obama administration has categorically denied requests from LGBT advocates to issue an executive order protecting LGBT people against workplace discrimination at this time, according to individuals who took part in a White House meeting on Wednesday. The denial was corroborated by a senior administration official.

In a statement to the Washington Blade, Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign and among the attendees, said advocates were told the administration won’t take action to bar federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers.

“Earlier today, we were told that the administration is not ready to move forward with a federal contractor nondiscrimination executive order at this time,” Solmonese said. “We are extremely disappointed with this decision and will continue to advocate for an executive order from the president. The unfortunate truth is that hard-working Americans can be fired simply for being gay or transgender. Given the number of employees that would be covered by this executive order, it represents a critical step forward.”

Solmonese continued that extensive research and polling has been done demonstrating that the executive order would be a useful tool and would enjoy broad support.

“Ten years of HRC’s Corporate Equality Index, as well as the research of our partner organizations to include the Center for American Progress and the Williams Institute, demonstrate that there is ample rationale for this kind of order,” Solmonese said. “No similar executive order has ever had this kind of extensive research or factual basis established. While we believe that further study is unnecessary, we will continue to engage with the Administration to ensure that the case is made even stronger for workplace protections.”

Shin Inouye, a White House spokesperson, said in a statement on the meeting that Obama remains committed to legislation that would bar workplace discrimination against LGBT people known as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

“The president is dedicated to securing equal rights for LGBT Americans and that is why he has long supported an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit employers across the country from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” Inouye said. “The president is committed to lasting and comprehensive change and therefore our goal is passage of ENDA, which is a legislative solution to LGBT employment discrimination – just as the president pressed for legislative repeal of ['Don't Ask, Don't Tell'].”

A senior administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, also said the administration doesn’t expect to issue an executive order on LGBT non-discrimination for federal contractors at this time.

“We are deeply committed to working hand-in-hand with the LGBT community to enlist support from key stakeholders and other decision-makers, and to continue to engage with and educate the business community and the public more broadly about the importance of employment nondiscrimination and the importance of passing ENDA,” the official said.

Another attendee at the meeting, gay Democratic lobbyist Robert Raben, corroborated that advocates were told the executive order wouldn’t happen, but the goal of the meeting was more to explore ways that the administration could address workplace discrimination facing LGBT Americans — primarily through legislative means.

“For me, it was a conversation about very, very interested and committed people about what the administration could be doing to make the case for … protections of people in the employment context,” Raben said. “What could they be doing to get ENDA moving? What should they be studying and understanding and what data do they need? … So for me, it was less about the tactic of an executive order and more about can we figure out how to work together to get ENDA over the finish line?”

Raben continued he felt many advocates in attendance at the meeting “focused on an executive order,” but he doesn’t fall into that category.

“That’s not my position,” Raben said. “I don’t live and die on a particular tactic. I’ve been working on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act for 20 years in January. … I don’t get worried about a particular tactic, I’m worried about how we change people’s minds so the Chamber of Commerce isn’t ridiculous about it.”

Raben added he has no idea whether the Chamber of Commerce has weighed in on an executive order barring workplace discrimination against LGBT people.

Others in attendance at the meeting who issued statements saying the administration wouldn’t issue an executive order barring workplace discrimination against LGBT people were Carey and Stachelberg.

Since the executive order is similar in its goal to ENDA, the directive has sometimes been referred to as the “ENDA” executive order. However, the order would be more limited in scope because it only affects federal contractors. Multiple sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told the Blade the Labor and Justice Departments have cleared such a measure and it’s awaiting action at the White House.

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An organization known as the “law firm for the Latino community” has become the first non-LGBT civil rights group to announce support for an executive order that would require federal contractors to have LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination policies.

In a letter dated April 5, Thomas Saenz, president of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, or MALDEF, calls on President Obama to take administrative action to prohibit companies that do business with the U.S. government from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

“I write to urge you to build on your successful ‘We Can’t Wait’ initiative in one concrete way,” Saenz said. “Specifically, MALDEF asks that you sign an executive order to ban federal contractors from engaging in workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals, including LGBT Latinos.”

Saenz urges the president to issue the order because the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, legislation that would bar job bias against LGBT people, has stalled in Congress for years.

“In recent years, multiple Congresses have failed to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would ban workplace bias based on actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity,” Saenz writes. “MALDEF believes the time is now right to promote workplace fairness for LGBT individuals by taking strong executive action.”

Making the case for the order, Saenz recalls that previous presidents — from Franklin Roosevelt to Bill Clinton — have issued executive orders barring workplace discrimination. He also cites the military contractor DynCorp LLC, which  implemented an LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination policy after it came under scrutiny for anti-gay harassment on the job; and he notes that top government contractors, such as Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Boeing already have such policies in place.

Since the executive order is similar in its goal to ENDA, the directive has sometimes been referred to as the “ENDA” executive order. However, the order would be more limited in scope because it only affects federal contractors.

Multiple sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, have told the Blade the Labor and Justice Departments have cleared such a measure, but the White House has remained silent on whether it will take such action. A White House spokesperson didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter.

Since its founding in 1968, MALDEF has aimed to promote social change in the areas of education, employment and immigrant rights. One victory came in 1982, when a MALDEF-backed lawsuit known as Plyler v. Doe prompted the Supreme Court to strike down a Texas law that allowed school districts to charge children tuition if their parents were undocumented immigrants.The organization has also won legal victories to make the drawing of Texas congressional districts more fair to the Latino community.

MALDEF has also taken part in helping advance LGBT rights. The organization has filed “friend-of-the-court” briefs in favor of overturning California’s Proposition 8 and is part of a coalition supporting the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act. MALDEF has worked to support passage of the Uniting American Families Act, which would allow gay Americans to sponsor their foreign spouses for residency in the United States, and was among the first organizations to stand with Immigration Equality in calling for the passage of LGBT-inclusive comprehensive immigration reform legislation.

According to polling made public last week by the Human Rights Campaign, Latinos across America strongly support of the executive order. The poll, which found 73 percent of Americans support the directive, also found the order polls at 72 percent among likely Latino voters in the 2012 election.

Additionally, the letter comes on the heels of the publication Thursday of the Pew Hispanic Center’s 2011 National Survey of Latinos poll showing 59 percent of Hispanic voters believe homosexuality should “be accepted by society.” According to the report, the data is in line with the general public. Among the public at large, 58 precent say homosexuality should be accepted.

The letter makes the group the first non-LGBT civil rights organization to endorse the executive order, but not the first non-LGBT group. Last fall, the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, which bills itself as an organization for “rank and file” workers adopted a pro-LGBT resolution that includes support for an executive order protecting LGBT people against workplace discrimination. Mary Kay Henry, a lesbian and president of the Service Employees International Union, endorsed the order in an interview with the Washington Blade in June during Netroots Nation.

Support for the idea of the executive order is building. Earlier this week, a group of 72 U.S. House members sent a letter to Obama calling on him to issue the directive, saying the measure would ”extend important workplace protections to millions of Americans, while at the same time laying the groundwork for Congressional passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act .” Rep Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), who drafted the letter, distributed it among colleagues.

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David Bohnett (Photo by Matthew Imaging via Wikimedia Commons)

A gay philanthropist and major donor to the Democratic Party has endorsed the idea of an executive order requiring federal contractors to have LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination policies.

David Bohnett, who made billions after selling his Internet creation GeoCities in 1990s, chairs the David Bohnett Foundation, a grant-making organization with the stated goal of improving society through activism.

In an email to the Washington Blade, Michael Fleming, who advises Bohnett on political and philanthropic giving, confirmed Bohnett backs the idea of President Obama issuing this directive.

“I will say that David is fully supportive of the President signing an LGBT-inclusive federal contractor executive order as soon as possible, because LGBT people continue to face high rates of workplace discrimination,” Fleming said. “It’s the right thing to do and the right time to do it.”

Bohnett was among the attendees last week at the $35,800 per ticket LGBT fundraiser in D.C.  that raised $1.4 million for President Obama’s re-election. Obama and Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius were in attendance.

In response to a question on whether Bohnett raised the issue of the executive order with the president at this fundraiser, Fleming said any conversation Bohnett may have had with Obama is private.

Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work and among the chief advocates of the directive, praised Bohnett for throwing his support behind the executive order.

“David Bohnett has an impressive record of speaking up for positive change, and I think it is very significant that he has now publicly endorsed the proposed executive order banning federal contractors from squandering our taxpayer dollars on harassment against LGBT Americans,” Almeida said. “I imagine that as a successful entrepreneur, Mr. Bohnett knows well that banning LGBT workplace discrimination is both good for a company’s bottom line, as well as the morally right thing to do.”

Because the measure is similar in its goal to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the directive has sometimes been referred to as the “ENDA” executive order, although the order would be more limited in scope because it only affects federal contractors. Multiple sources have said the Labor and Justice Departments have cleared such a measure, but the White House hasn’t said whether Obama will issue the directive.

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Patricia Shiu (Photo courtesy the Labor Department)

The Obama administration official who would be responsible for enforcing a proposed federal ban on discrimination against LGBT workers by federal contractors boasts a long record of advocating for LGBT rights.

Patricia Shiu heads the Labor Department’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), which enforces contractual promises of equal employment opportunity for companies doing business with the federal government.

If, as advocates have been pushing him to do, President Obama issues an executive order requiring federal contractors to adopt non-discrimination policies inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity, Shiu would be responsible for ensuring companies live up to that obligation.

Federal contractors that discriminate against LGBT employees would have to answer to Shiu — and potentially have to pay back wages and reinstate workers fired for discriminatory reasons.

Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work and one of the chief advocates calling for the order, called Shiu a “smart and talented attorney” and said she’s “demonstrated throughout her career a real passion and commitment to enforcing civil rights laws.”

“As the executive order has advanced through the slow bureaucratic process over the course of the last year, I have felt reassured knowing that we have strong straight allies like Director Shiu on the inside advocating for workplace fairness for LGBT Americans,” Almeida said. “She knows the legal issues backwards and forwards, in part because she has real world experience at the Employment Law Center representing LGBT Americans who have faced workplace discrimination just because of who they are or whom they love.”

Because the measure is similar in its goal to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the directive has sometimes been referred to as the “ENDA” executive order, although the order would be more limited in scope because it only affects federal contractors. Multiple sources have said the Labor and Justice Departments have cleared such a measure, but the White House hasn’t said whether Obama will issue the directive.

Almeida said he met with staffers from OFCCP to advocate for the executive order, and had two meetings with Shiu herself. Almeida wouldn’t comment on the substance of the meetings, and Shiu declined an interview for this article.

If Obama issues the order, Shiu would be responsible for drafting and implementing regulations, putting them through a 90-day public comment period, revising the regulations and then publishing final rules.

“That could take six, eight, 10 or even 12 months, which is why it is so critical that President Obama get the process started by signing the executive order as soon as possible,” Almeida said.

No federal law protects LGBT people from discrimination in the workplace, but observers say Shiu has distinguished herself by protecting civil rights for other groups using as tools protections already in place since she took over at OFCCP in 2009.

Executive Order 11246, signed in 1965 by President Johnson, prohibits federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

Several statutes also prevent companies doing business with the federal government from discriminating against employees. Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits job bias based on disability and Section 4212 of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 prohibits job bias based on veteran status.

OFCCP’s work is focused on compliance evaluations of contractors who are scheduled for reviews, when compliance officers check to make sure contractors are meeting these obligations. According to the Labor Department, Shiu’s office investigated 356 complaints filed under Executive Order 11246, Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and Section 4212 of the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974.

Under the Obama administration, OFCCP has recovered more than $30 million in financial remedies on behalf of nearly 50,000 victims of discrimination. In the past three years, the agency has evaluated more than 12,000 businesses that employ almost 5 million workers. In addition to back wages, interest and benefits, OFCCP has negotiated more than 4,800 potential job offers for workers who have been illegally subjected to discrimination.

Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president for policy at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, had high praise for Shiu’s work in enforcing non-discrimination rules with federal contractors.

“Overall, her commitment to reinvigorate and ramp up the enforcement of the agency has been amazing, which is not surprising because she has dedicated her whole career to protecting workers and promoting diversity and enforcing the law,” Zirkin said. “In her previous role, she was always very well respected in the legal and policy advocacy community.”

Zirkin said the Employment Task Force of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights has worked with her on the National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force, which was charged with cracking down on violations of equal pay laws affecting women.

“We think she has been throughout her career and continues to be a stellar point for the civil rights community,” Zirkin said.

If Obama were to issue the ENDA executive order, Zirkin predicted that Shiu would be an effective enforcer of that directive.

“Based on her entire life’s work, she would implement and enforce it, and as I said in the beginning, she has made a demonstrated commitment to reinvigorate and ramp up enforcement at the agency,” Zirkin said.

In June, Shiu secured one such major financial reward from a pharmaceutical giant and federal contractor as the result of allegations of gender discrimination in violation of Executive Order 11246.

AstraZeneca, among the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, agreed to pay $250,000 to 124 women subjected to discrimination while working at the corporation’s Philadelphia Business Center in Wayne, Pa. The action resolved a lawsuit filed by the Labor Department in May 2010 alleging the company discriminated against female sales specialists by paying them salaries that were, on average, $1,700 less than their male co-workers.

OFCCP conducted a scheduled compliance review of the business center in 2002 and found AstraZeneca had violated Executive Order 11246 by failing to meet its obligations as a federal contractor to ensure employees were paid fairly. According to the Labor Department, the company holds a contract valued at more than $2 billion with the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide pharmaceutical products to hospitals and medical centers throughout the country.

Shiu is credited with being a stalwart supporter of civil rights and LGBT rights even before she came to the Labor Department. Prior to joining the Obama administration, Shiu was an attorney for 26 years at the San Francisco-based Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center and worked on employment discrimination cases, including LGBT-related cases.

Elizabeth Kristen, current director of the Employment Law Center’s Gender Equity and LGBT Rights Program, said Shiu was her mentor at the organization before she left and ”an incredible champion for civil rights.”

“She is a tough litigator and she’s a passionate advocate and she’s incredibly smart and she really when she was here just went to bat for her clients,” Kristen said.

Kristen said Shiu worked on cases at the Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center affecting LGBT employees and said she “fully gets the issues and is a staunch, staunch ally to the LGBT community.” The Law Center wouldn’t reveal information about these cases, citing confidentiality agreements.

A lesbian who married her spouse in San Francisco in 2008, Kristen said Shiu in addition to her legal work was outspoken against Proposition 8, the ballot measure that ultimately eliminated marriage rights for gay couples in California.

“Many of our straight allies were working to get President Obama elected, which is great and wonderful but some of us also were fighting Prop 8 on Election Day, and Pat was also with us fighting Prop 8,” Kristen said.

Kristen added Shiu was involved in a Legal Aid Society Employment Law Center decision to gross up the pay for employees in same-sex marriages to offset the tax inequities faced by these individuals. Because of the Defense of Marriage Act, individuals in same-sex marriages have to pay a federal tax on health care benefits, unlike those in opposite-sex unions.

Should Obama issue the ENDA executive order, Kristen said Shiu “would do everything in her power to enforce it.”

“She would do everything she could to make sure that this order was fully effective because I know the rights of the LGBT community are near and dear to her heart,” Kristen said.

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Government agencies have cleared an administrative measure that would bar federal dollars from going to companies without LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination protections, according to three informed sources familiar with the process, and have sent their recommendation to the White House for final approval.

The sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the Labor Department and the Justice Department have given the OK to amend existing Executive Order 11246 to include protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Executive Order 11246 already prohibits federal contractors that have contracts exceeding $10,000 from discriminating in employment based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

Now that the measure is at the White House, the last remaining step is for President Obama to take action.

“It is at the White House and is now a political decision,” one source said.

Another source was optimistic about President Obama issuing the executive order before the end of his first term, saying, “I think there are better than even odds we’ll see it this year.”

The measure is sometimes known as the “ENDA” executive order because it would accomplish the same goals as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, legislation that has stalled in Congress that would bar job bias against LGBT people in the public and private workforce. The executive order would only apply to companies doing business with the federal government.

Neither the White House nor the Justice Department responded to the Washington Blade’s request for comment on whether the departments have approved the executive order.

Laura McGinnis, a Labor Department spokesperson, said any approval her department has given to the order is “not something we could comment on” and deferred further inquiries to the White House.

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Saturday is the South Carolina primary and choosing one of the Republican candidates left in the race must be agonizing. Members of the LGBT community might differ on a lot of issues but opposing candidates who want to enshrine discrimination shouldn’t be one of them.

Republican, libertarian, Democratic or Green, candidates should believe that our basic rights are inviolable. It was laughable when Rick Santorum tried to favorably compare his position on LGBT issues with those of President Obama. The president supports repealing DOMA, passing an inclusive ENDA and same-sex parent adoptions; he pushed for and signed the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Santorum doesn’t support any of that and has said some of the most outrageously homophobic things — like children being brought up by a mother and a father, even if the father is in prison, are better off than children being brought up by two loving same-sex parents.

But then Santorum is only the worst of the current crop of Republican presidential choices. Their stands on LGBT rights do share one thing in common with President Obama: they all oppose same-sex marriage. But that is where the comparison ends. Mitt Romney once said he favored LGBT rights but he just disavowed a flier from a previous campaign in which he said he believed that all people regardless of sexual orientation should have equal rights. Whether he no longer believes that or is just pandering to the bigoted voters who make up a big part of the Republican primary vote is irrelevant. He is asking people to vote for him based on what he says today. The best of the lot was Jon Huntsman, Jr. who dropped out of the race this week. But it was apparent since he is a fairly reasonable guy he would have zero chance of winning the Republican nomination.

Voters decide whom to support on more than just LGBT issues and that is the way it should be. We can and do have many differing views in the community on tax policy, immigration, the federal government’s role in stimulating the economy, healthcare and issues impacting the environment among others. But I find it hard to fathom any member of the LGBT community would vote for a candidate who believes in and backs policies that ensure members of our community will remain second-class citizens during their presidency.

In all likelihood there will be divided government for the next four years. The Founding Fathers understood that would happen and they provided for three distinct roles — the executive, legislative and the judiciary. We have also seen the method devised for the checks and balances between the two houses of Congress. What I don’t think these men foresaw was the unwillingness of elected leaders to communicate and compromise. The result of that unwillingness to compromise has brought us the current do-nothing Congress.

It is my hope that the American people will see fit to change that by electing individuals who may agree with their disparate positions but are also adult, educated and knowledgeable enough to understand the need for real compromise. Clearly, as we heard on a recent edition of “60 Minutes,” House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) doesn’t know the difference between the words cooperate and compromise. He either thinks they mean the same thing or is merely trying to obfuscate and that is just as bad for the nation.

In the next 20 years — despite the Rick Santorums of the world — the LGBT community will achieve full civil and human rights. People will see through the lies of the Newt Gingriches who blame marriage equality for the Catholic Church’s withdrawal from adoption and other programs in places that have passed it, rather than admitting they were only willing to provide such services if they got government money to pay for them.

In our community, let’s have the same debate as the rest of the nation on the myriad issues that the government faces. But let’s also agree we will not support candidates who support laws that will ensure that we remain second-class citizens.

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An LGBT workplace rights advocacy group has launched an online petition to persuade a military contractor to adopt an LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination policy.

The change.org petition, created by Freedom to Work, is directed at DynCorp International LLC, a Fairfax, Va.-based company. The petition, which as of early Wednesday had 62 signatures, calls on DynCorp “to strengthen their non-discrimination policy by including sexual orientation and gender identity.

The company’s policies recently came under scrutiny in the wake of a settlement the company made with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over a case in which a straight employee,  James Friso, was allegedly subjected to anti-gay harassment and called “faggot,” “queer” and “dick-sucker” by a co-worker on a daily basis.

DynCorp allegedly did nothing after Friso complained about the harassment. As a result of the EEOC settlement this month, Friso will be awarded $155,000, but the company isn’t required to change its non-discrimination policy to include protections based on sexual orientation.

Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work, said his organization chose DynCorp as its first corporate campaign because of “explosive facts in the form of brutally ugly harassment” that were revealed after the settlement was reached.

“That kind of treatment is just plain un-American, and I think the public is going to have a visceral reaction that this company has to do better if they want to continue collecting billions of dollars in our taxpayer funds,” Almeida said.

DynCorp receives more than 96 percent of its revenue from federal contracts that amount to $2 billion each year, making it the 32nd largest federal contractor, according to Freedom to Work.

During a news conference Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney didn’t have an immediate answer when asked if the administration has a problem with companies receiving this kind of federal money while not protecting employees from anti-gay bias.

“Why don’t I take that question because I know none of the details that you just described,” Carney said. “I don’t want to make a general statement about it since I know nothing about the specifics. But I’ll take the question.”

The White House didn’t immediately respond to a follow-up email request to respond to the question asked during the news briefing.

Ashley Burke, a DynCorp spokesperson, said in response to the petition, “we are currently examining our policies to determine how they can be further strengthened, including in this specific area.”

Almeida said he thinks persuading DynCorp to adopt an LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination policy is a “winnable campaign” based on the statement from DynCorp and because the company “is going to realize that discrimination is bad for the bottom line.”

“Most of the other military contractors like Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, and General Dynamics have already adopted LGBT non-discrimination policies, and many of them have specifically said that non-discrimination rules increase efficiency and make them a stronger and more profitable company,” Almeida said.

One way to prompt DynCorp to adopt an LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination policy would be for President Obama to issue an executive order prohibiting federal dollars from going to companies that don’t have sexual orientation and gender identity included in their policies. The White House hasn’t said whether Obama would be open to issuing such an order.

But Almeida said he’s “optimistic” Obama will issue the order early this year because it would fit with the White House’s “recent theme of governance.”

“He’s taken executive actions on politically charged topics like immigration, and he’s done things that have angered the business community such as mandating overtime payments for home healthcare workers and making recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board,” Almeida said. “By comparison, the ENDA Executive Order is politically very easy.  ENDA polls very strongly with voters, including with a majority of Republican voters.”

The “ENDA” executive order is so named because it would be similar to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, legislation that would prohibit workplace discrimination against LGBT people.

Almeida added the executive order could also be a component of a presidential campaign against Republican frontrunner Mitt Romney, who backed ENDA in 1994 but said he no longer supports the legislation in an interview in 2006.

“I think President Obama might even use his signature on the ENDA Executive Order as a wedge issue in the campaign against Mitt Romney, who has taken three or four different positions on ENDA, and to this day nobody knows what he stands for,” Almeida said.

UPDATE: The White House has responded to the Blade inquiry about companies receiving federal dollars without having LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination protections and the ENDA executive order with the following statement:

“President Obama has long supported an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity,” said White House spokesperson Shin Inouye. “Regarding your question on a potential Executive Order, I don’t have anything to report.”

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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission secured a $155,000 settlement against a federal contractor in a workplace discrimination case last week, triggering a call from one LGBT advocacy group for action from the Obama administration to address the issue further.

On Jan. 6, EEOC announced that DynCorp International LLC, a military contractor and aircraft maintenance company in Fairfax, Va., agreed to pay $155,000 in relief in a sex-based discrimination case.

The case involves James Friso, a straight aircraft sheet metal/structural mechanic working in Taji, Iraq, who was allegedly subjected to gender-based harassment — including anti-gay epithets — by a male co-worker.

According to the EEOC complaint, one of Friso’s male co-workers began making derogatory sex-based comments to Friso on a daily basis around November 2006. The co-worker allegedly called Friso “faggot,” “dick-sucker,” and “queer” on a daily basis.

Other comments allegedly referenced Friso’s stature, who’s five-feet, four inches tall, including “whiney little bitch,” “short little mother fucker” and “short little bitch.”

Additionally, the co-worker accused Friso of engaging in homosexual acts, even though the co-workers knew Friso was married to a woman. The co-worker allegedly made this comment in front of management, but no action was taken.

The complaint states Friso regularly complained to DynCorp management, but no action was taken. After continued complaints, managers allegedly told Friso they “would get rid of him.”

That eventually came to pass. Friso was transferred to Mannheim, Germany to a post with lower pay. The co-worker who allegedly subjected to Friso to sex-based discrimination continued to work at Taji.

EEOC filed a complaint in August 2011 in federal district court in Virginia on the basis that the sex-based discrimination violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title I of the Civil Rights Act of 1991. The announcement on Friday was the result of that complaint.

In addition to agreeing to pay $155,000 in relief to Friso, DynCorp must provide anti-harassment and anti-retaliation training to managers and human resource personnel. DynCorp is also enjoined from engaging in further sex-based harassment or retaliation and has agreed to allow EEOC to monitor it for the decree’s term.

Lynette A. Barnes, regional attorney for EEOC’s Charlotte District, whose jurisdiction includes Virginia, said in a statement the result of the case is a reminder that sex-based discrimination shouldn’t be tolerated.

“This lawsuit should remind employers that employees have a legal right to a workplace free of harassment, including harassment based on sex-based stereotypes,” Barnes said. “Employers must be careful about allowing comments concerning sexual orientation to be made in the workplace because if those comments are based on sexual stereotyping, they might violate the law.”

But Ashley Burke, a spokesperson for DynCorp, denied the company engaged in any wrongdoing even though it accepted the terms of the settlement.

“The Company was not involved in any wrongdoing and wholly denies all of the allegations contained in the Complaint,” Burke said. “This case involves a personal dispute that occurred five years ago, and the alleged harasser is no longer with the Company. We are pleased to put the matter behind us.”

One LGBT workplace rights advocate said the incident calls for additional administrative action from the Obama administration.

Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work, took issue with the consent decree in the case for not mentioning sexual orientation.

“The company will not have to add sexual orientation or gender identity to its non-discrimination policy,” Almeida said. “Even after this case, DynCorp can discriminate against LGBT employees while getting fat on billions of dollars in taxpayer money.”

Almeida said the action against DynCorp demonstrates the need for an executive order prohibiting federal dollars from going to companies that do not have non-discrimination protections for employees based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

“The members of the civil rights enforcement team at the Department of Labor currently have their hands tied and are not allowed to investigate federal contractors like DynCorp for discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation because President Obama has not yet signed the ENDA executive order,” Almeida said.

DynCorp receives more than 96 percent of its revenue from federal contracts that amount to $2 billion each year, making it the 32nd largest federal contractor, according to Freedom to Work. However, protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity aren’t included in the company’s non-discrimination policy.

The “ENDA” executive order is so named because it would be similar to the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, legislation that would prohibit workplace discrimination against LGBT people.

The order would enable LGBT Americans who face workplace discrimination to file complaints with the Labor Department. Possible remedies include payment of back wages or reinstatement for LGBT employees who faced discrimination.

Almeida has called on Obama to issue the executive order before, and now says he’s “optimistic” that Obama will sign the order in early 2012.

“During just the past few months alone, the president has taken more than 20 strong executive actions under the slogan ‘We Can’t Wait’ for the current dysfunctional Congress to act,” Almeida said. “It’s a logical next step to sign an executive order granting LGBT Americans the freedom to work for federal contractors without fear of discrimination or harassment on the job.”

The White House hasn’t said whether it would be open to issuing such an executive order despite the president’s support for ENDA.

DynCorp’s Burke insisted the company already has protections in place for its workers, saying the company “encourages a positive, supportive work environment where harassment or retaliation of any kind is simply not tolerated.”

“In addition to anti-harassment training provided to all new hires, personnel receive refresher training, anti-harassment policies are posted throughout worksites, and our Code of Ethics and Business Conduct clearly states the Company’s zero tolerance of harassment and retaliation,” Burke said.

In the early 2000s, a DynCorp employee who alleged that company workers in Bosnia had purchased young women from brothels and kept them as sex slaves was terminated from her job and later won a $173,000 judgment from an employment tribunal in Britain.

In May 2008, a federal jury ordered DynCorp to pay $15 million to a minority-owned telecommunications contractor that charged DynCorp with terminating a contract on the basis of racial discrimination, according to the Washington Post.

Asked whether the settlement has prompted DynCorp to reconsider its non-discrimination policy, Burke replied, “Although there was no wrongdoing on the part of the Company identified in this case, we are always looking for ways to further strengthen our policies and procedures and this is one area that we are currently examining.”