President Barack Obama on Monday signed
an executive order that prohibits federal contractors from
discriminating against employees on the basis of sexual orientation
and gender identity.
In remarks delivered before he signed
the order, the president told a crowd gathered at the White House:
“We're on the right side of history.”
(Related: Obama
signs gay workplace protections order.)
“It doesn’t make much sense, but
today in America, millions of our fellow citizens wake up and go to
work with the awareness that they could lose their job, not because
of anything they do or fail to do, but because of who they are –
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender. And that’s wrong,” the
president said. “We’re here to do what we can to make it right –
to bend that arc of justice just a little bit in a better direction.”
“Currently, 18 states have already
banned workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and
gender identity. And over 200 cities and localities have done the
same. Governor Terry McAuliffe is here; his first act as governor
was to prohibit discrimination against LGBT employees of the
Commonwealth of Virginia.”
“Equality in the workplace is not
only the right thing to do, it turns out to be good business. That’s
why a majority of Fortune 500 companies already have
nondiscrimination policies in place. It is not just about doing the
right thing – it’s also about attracting and retaining the best
talent. And there are several business leaders who are here today
who will attest to that.”
“And yet, despite all that, in too
many states and in too many workplaces, simply being gay, lesbian,
bisexual or transgender can still be a fireable offense. There are
people here today who’ve lost their jobs for that reason. This is
not speculative, this is not a matter of political correctness –
people lose their jobs as a consequence of this. Their livelihoods
are threatened, their families are threatened. In fact, more states
now allow same-sex marriage than prohibit discrimination against LGBT
workers. So I firmly believe that it’s time to address this
injustice for every American.”
Now, Congress has spent 40 years –
four decades – considering legislation that would help solve the
problem. That's a long time. And yet they still haven’t gotten it
done. Senators Tammy Baldwin and Jeff Merkley are here. They have
been champions of this issue for a long, long time. We are very
proud of them. I know they will not stop fighting until fair
treatment for all workers is the federal law of the land. Everyone
thanks them for that.”
“But I’m going to do what I can,
with the authority I have, to act. The rest of you, of course, need
to keep putting pressure on Congress to pass federal legislation that
resolves this problem once and for all.”
“For more than two centuries, we have
strived, often at great cost, to form 'a more perfect union' – to
make sure that 'we, the people' applies to all the people. Many of
us are only here because others fought to secure rights and
opportunities for us. And we’ve got a responsibility to do the
same for future generations. We’ve got an obligation to make sure
that the country we love remains a place where no matter who you are,
or what you look like, or where you come from, or how you started
out, or what your last name is, or who you love – no matter what,
you can make it in this country.”
“That’s the story of America.
That’s the story of this movement. I want to thank all of you for
doing your part. We've got a long way to go, but I hope as everybody
looks around this room, you are reminded of the extraordinary
progress that we have made not just in our lifetimes, but in the last
five years. In the last two years. In the last one year. We're on
the right side of history.” (The video is embedded on this page.
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