Ed. note: This is cross-posted on the U.S. Department of Labor's blog. See the original post here.
I’ve been involved in civil rights work for a long time, and I’ve seen a lot of victories and setbacks. But in recent years, the speed of our progress on equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans has been nothing short of astonishing. The Labor Department has played an important role in that progress, and I’m proud to continue it today.
Today, we are issuing a rule to implement Executive Order 13672, which was signed by President Obama in July, to ensure that federal contractors and subcontractors do not discriminate against employees or applicants based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. As the president put it: “Americans ought to be judged by one thing only in their workplaces: their ability to get their jobs done.”
The federal government should be a model employer, leading and not lagging on these issues. Today’s announcement confirms that the federal contracting system will no longer subsidize exclusion and discrimination.
Fonte: White House