While appointing an LGBT person to the Cabinet or as an ambassador to a G-20 nation would be nice, Joe Sudbay and Paul Yandura have laid out a few other, more pressing goals for President Obama's second term, including an executive decision on workplace discrimination.
Via their piece at Huffington Post:
1. By the end of this year, President Obama needs to sign the executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity. This executive order has been awaiting his signature for over two years now. He could do it this week, and it would be a historic first step toward federal employment protections. We can no longer wait for employment protections that the president promised us and should have put into place on his first day on the job four years ago.
2. Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) needs to make good on his promise to bring up an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) for a vote early in 2013. We deserve a Senate vote on ENDA, having not seen concrete progress since Democrats took control over six years ago. We want a floor vote. If Republicans want to filibuster it, let them. We want them on record. The American people are with us. When we push the GOP to show their bigotry, they lose.
3. Same-sex couples should not be forgotten or excluded when immigration reform finally gets debated and passed. And don't tell us that you will come back later for us, or that we need to be in a separate bill that can be appended later. We have been there and done that.
Sudbay and Yandura are also asking readers for suggestions on how President Obama can address persistent LGBT discrimination during his second term, so offer yours in the comments section.
