House Amendment Threatens LGBTQ Protections for Federal Contractors

For Immediate Release

April 29, 2016

Contact: Jerame Davis
jdavis@prideatwork.org

House Amendment Threatens LGBTQ Protections for Federal Contractors

Washington, DC – On Thursday, the U.S. House Armed Services Committee passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 4909) intended to overturn an executive order by President Obama that prohibits lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender discrimination in the employment practices of federal contractors. The amendment creates a broad religious exemption that would allow federal contractors to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender workers, effectively rescinding protections for 28 million Americans. The executive order this amendment targets generated little controversy and was implemented with no major problems. Pride at Work Executive Director, Jerame Davis, issued the following statement:

“Apparently, the Republican majority on the House Armed Services Committee has not been paying attention to the outrage generated by these thinly veiled attacks on LGBTQ Americans. The recent spate of religious exemption laws have not generated much support from businesses, organizations, or everyday people. Rather, the few that have passed have been met with outrage and contempt – as they should.

“Religious exemption laws have nothing to do with protecting religious freedom – the First Amendment to the Constitution already does that. What these misguided laws actually do is sanction real harm to certain segments of the population. Discrimination in the guise of freedom is a threat to us all, not just the 28 million Americans who would lose these protections.”

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Pride At Work organizes mutual support between the organized Labor Movement and the LGBTQ Community for social and economic justice. We seek full equality for LGBTQ Workers in our workplaces and unions and we organize in the spirit of the union movement’s historic motto, “An Injury to One is An Injury to All.” Learn more at www.prideatwork.org