Photo: Barack Obama. Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza.
President Barack Obama addressed his decision to sign an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from LGBT workplace discrimination for the first time Tuesday evening, while stating that pressure must continue to be applied to Congress to pass comprehensive federal legislation protecting all workers.
“We’ve got to keep fighting for equality in the workplace. Right now there are more states that allow same-sex marriage than there are states that prohibit discrimination against LGBT workers. Think about that,” Obama said at the Democratic National Committee’s LGBT Gala in New York City.
“We have laws that say Americans can’t be fired from their jobs because of the color of their skin or for their religion or because of a disability,” Obama continued. “But every day, millions of Americans go to work knowing that they could lose their job, not because of anything they did, but because of who they are. That is not right. It is wrong.”
Noting the passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act with a 64-32 vote last November, Obama chided the Republican-controlled House of Representatives for, “shockingly enough,” refusing to act and bring the bill to the floor for a vote.
“We don’t benefit as a country or an economy — businesses don’t benefit if they’re leaving talent off the field. And that’s why I’ve directed my staff to prepare for my signature, an executive order prohibiting discrimination by federal contractors on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” Obama said to a roar of applause from the packed ballroom at Gotham Hall. “Because in the United States of America, who you are and who you love shouldn’t be a fireable offense.”
Obama’s remarks come one day after the White House announced that after years of delay Obama would finally act to prohibit federal contractors from LGBT workplace discrimination — a move long sought by LGBT-rights advocates that builds upon Obama’s legacy as the strongest LGBT ally to ever occupy the White House.
And although ENDA has continued to gain bipartisan support in the House as recently as last week, it seems increasingly unlikely that it, or other progressive legislation, will move forward in the current Congress. A political operative close to ENDA strategy in the House told Metro Weekly that the surprising primary defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) last week by a tea party challenger “has complicated the landscape and definitely put progressive issues in peril.”
Despite that prognosis, Obama said ENDA supporters must continue to keep pressure on Congress to act.
“It would be better, by the way, if Congress passed a more comprehensive law that didn’t just cover federal contractors,” Obama said Tuesday. “And we need to keep working on that, so don’t take the pressure off Congress. This seems to be a pattern these days. Everybody has just given up so much on Congress that we end up doing something through executive order. And that’s helpful, but it doesn’t reach everybody that needs to be reached. Congress needs to start working again.”
During his remarks Tuesday, Obama did not indicate when he will sign the executive order, although the White House’s annual LGBT Pride Month reception is scheduled for June 30. Speaking to reporters Monday aboard Air Force One, principal deputy White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the specific details of the order have not yet been finalized. LGBT-rights advocates are expected to meet at the White House Thursday to discuss the executive order.
Police in Thailand have arrested a suspect in connection with the violent murder of an LGBTQ TikTok influencer from Myanmar, who was found beaten to death in a remote forest on January 20.
Authorities were alerted after a villager herding animals discovered a body beneath a tree in a forested area near Phathong village in Thailand’s Mae Sot District, roughly 300 miles northwest of Bangkok.
The deceased was identified as 25-year-old Ko Tin Zaw Htwe, a prominent LGBTQ TikTok influencer with more than 1.1 million followers who posted under the handle "Irrawaddy Ma." He had been missing for two days before his body was discovered. His final video, uploaded on January 19, showed him lip-syncing to a popular song.
A new report finds that acceptance of LGBTQ people is declining across the United States, with nearly three in ten LGBTQ adults saying attitudes toward their community have worsened.
On Thursday, January 15, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation released findings from its Annual LGBTQ+ Community Survey, which drew responses from nearly 15,000 U.S. adults -- roughly two-thirds of whom identified as LGBTQ.
In addition to the survey, HRC last year launched its "American Dreams Tour," traveling to 10 cities and engaging more than 5,000 people through town halls, trainings, and community meetings with local LGBTQ leaders and activists. Those on-the-ground conversations informed the report, which aims to assess the state of LGBTQ life in the United States one year into the second Trump administration.
The year's nearly out. Sometimes that calls for taking sweet stock of the past months' wonderful events. Coming to the end of 2025, on the other hand, is more like getting to that denouement in the action movie where the survivors take a breath and pat each other on the back for having made it out alive. At this stage, we are Newt getting tucked-in to her Sulaco hibernation tube.
With some effort and a pinch of luck, may we all fare better in 2026 than poor Newt's end at the start of Alien 3.
Why such a shitty year? So much of it, obviously, can be laid at the feet of Lame Duck Donald. Not that he hasn't had loads of assistance in his evil efforts to erase our transgender family and friends, colleagues, and leaders during 2025. The purge, as promised, began right out of the gate on Inauguration Day.
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