National
DynCorp urged to adopt non-discrimination policy
Military contractor settles case with man who claimed anti-gay harassment
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.”
Federal Government
US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households
Agency proposing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity
The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking public comment on a proposed test of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the American Community Survey. The test would begin this summer and continue into next year.
The Census Bureau published the request as a Federal Register notice. In its press release the agency noted that the ACS is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. It allows the Census Bureau to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography.
As part of the process for adding new questions to the ACS, the Census Bureau tests potential questions to evaluate the quality of the data collected.
The Census Bureau proposes testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to meet the needs of other federal agencies that have expressed interest in or have identified legal uses for the information, such as enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures.
The test would follow the protocols of the actual ACS — with one person asked to respond to the survey on behalf of the entire household. These particular questions are asked about people 15 years of age or older. Households are invited to respond to the survey online, by paper questionnaire or by phone.
The current Federal Register notice gives the public a final opportunity to provide feedback before the Census Bureau submits its recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The public may provide feedback through May 30 online.
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
In a statement shared via the Human Rights Campaign, Shepard said, “This unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful, and more peaceful place for everyone.
“I am grateful to everyone whose love and support for our work through the years has sustained me.
“If I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Matt’s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.”
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with the Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
“Judy Shepard has been a champion for equality and President Biden’s choice to honor her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to what she’s done to be a force of good in the world,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
“A mother who turned unspeakable grief over the loss of her son into a decades-long fight against anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and violence, Judy continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said.
“It is because of her advocacy that the first federal hate crimes legislation became law and that countless life-saving trainings, resources and conversations about equality and acceptance are provided each year by the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” Robinson said. “We are honored that Judy is a member of the HRC family and know that her work to create a more inclusive and just world will only continue.”
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality.”
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality — about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
“It is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.”
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