National
Will Obama’s jobs speech be LGBT-inclusive?
Legalized discrimination persists, ENDA frozen
President Obama (photo courtesy whitehouse.gov)
With the nation awaiting President Obama’s jobs speech later this week, some advocates are hoping for a mention of employment protections for LGBT workers.
Justin Tanis, spokesperson for the San Francisco-based Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, said the Thursday speech before a joint session of Congress is “absolutely” an opportunity for Obama to address the absence of federal protections for LGBT workers.
“I think any serious plan to get Americans back to work has to look at the forces that are keeping Americans from working — and it’s clear that homophobia and transphobia are still very present in the lives of LGBT people,” Tanis said. “As long as our country fails to address those, discrimination is going to continue.”
While some states have laws that prohibit employers from discriminating against LGBT workers, in many places these protections are non-existent. Firing a person based on sexual orientation is legal in 29 states, while firing someone based on gender identity is legal in 35 states.
Federal legislation that would prohibit discrimination against LGBT people in most situations in the public and private workforce is known as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The bill is sponsored by gay Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.).
Tanis said Obama should express “vigorous support” for the enactment of employment protections such as ENDA in Congress during his much-anticipated jobs speech.
“It’s clear there needs to be a long-term plan for addressing anti-LGBT discrimination in the workplace whether it takes the form of ENDA or other measures,” Tanis said.
Whether President Obama will spend political capital to address the lack of non-discrimination protections for LGBT workers remains to be seen. A White House spokesperson declined to comment on whether the speech would be LGBT-inclusive.
Last week, the monthly jobs report from the Labor Department revealed that the unemployment rate remains fixed at 9.1 percent and a net of zero job growth took place in August.
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said last week the proposals Obama will unveil on Thursday would “absolutely” change these numbers into something more positive.
“The president will come forward with specific proposals that by any objective measure would add to growth and job creation in the short term,” Carney said. “And that will be part of a broad package that reflects his commitment to grow the economy now and to build a foundation for economic growth for the future to ensure that we win the future.”
Some LGBT advocates are skeptical that these proposed policy changes would be inclusive of ENDA or, more generally, the lack of federal job protections for LGBT workers.
Richard Socarides, president of Equality Matters, said he thinks the incorporation of LGBT job protections as part of these measures would be “highly unrealistic.”
“I don’t think they will see the connection,” Socarides said. “To be candid, I don’t think it’s a particularly good strategic opportunity. I think that all Americans — including LGBT Americans — want to see the economy improve and for the administration’s policies to create jobs.”
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said she doesn’t know enough about the president’s speech to say whether Obama should address the lack of federal job protections for LGBT Americans.
“I would bet he’s not likely to, and I don’t know enough about the speech to know if he should,” Keisling said. “If it’s a speech just about rebuilding infrastructure, it probably isn’t all that appropriate. If it’s an overall getting people working thing, it may be appropriate.”
Keisling said the most important part of the speech — even for LGBT people — is “there’ll be jobs for us to have because the economy is really, really hurting.”
Still, the jobs speech could be an opportunity for Obama to unveil an administrative action he could take on his own to prevent some LGBT Americans from experiencing discrimination in the workplace.
With Congress unlikely to act on ENDA as long as Republicans remain in control of the House, some LGBT advocates have called for an executive order barring the federal government from contracting with companies that don’t have their own non-discrimination protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Carney last week said the proposals Obama would unveil on Thursday would be both legislative and administrative. An executive order barring LGBT job bias among federal contractors could fall into this latter category.
But Carney emphasized that regulatory changes — as opposed to an executive order — would be the administrative means by which the president would address the job situation.
“He can also do things, as he has in the past, administratively that can help the economy grow, that can … relieve businesses from burdensome regulations; other measures he can take administratively that don’t require legislative action, he will continue to do that as well,” Carney said.
Socarides said Obama could unveil an executive order barring LGBT job bias among federal contractors at any time even without the jobs speech as a backdrop,
“Any day and everyday is a good day to do that,” Socarides said. “You don’t need a special day or a special day or a special speech. I would be surprised if they were considering it in the context of a jobs creation speech, but it is important.”
Federal Government
UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House
University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams
In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”
The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.
“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”
Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”
Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”
“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”
Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.
Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.
The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.
New York
Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade
One of the victims remains in critical condition
On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.
According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.
The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.
The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.
In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.
The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.
New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.
“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”
New York
Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade
Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform
Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.
The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”
“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.
Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”
His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.
“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”
“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”
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