Dear Friend,
Yesterday was quite a day!
After receiving close to 100 really moving accounts of workplace discrimination from across the country, we handed Cleve Jones a binder of stories to deliver directly to President Obama. Here's what Cleve had to say about his message to the President yesterday:
"Many in the LGBT community are deeply disappointed by the President's decision to not issue an Executive Order prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. While we appreciate what he has done for us already, we will continue to push him to do more until we achieve full equality under the law. I told him that workplace discrimination remains pervasive and asked him to reconsider his decision."
Binder of stories for President Obama
We were thrilled to be able to make workplace discrimination very real and very concrete for the President, and thank Cleve for his willingness to again show irrepressible courage in leading our movement and our community. If you haven't yet signed our petition to the President to reconsider his decision and to sign the Executive Order to ban LGBT discrimination by federal contractors, you can do that here: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6535/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9903.
This week was also full of incredibly inspiring actions at Obama for America campaign offices across the country. From Maryland to California, GetEQUAL organizers have begun to go to campaign offices, asking campaign staff and volunteers to ask President Obama to stand up for workplace fairness. And those actions have some extraordinary energy behind them -- we even had a volunteer drive 292 miles in order to join an action in Laramie, Wyoming!
We just wanted to give an update on the extraordinary organizing that's happening on this Executive Order, and the momentum that has been building over the past few weeks. The LGBT community and allies are calling on President Obama to lead on the issue of workplace fairness -- the White House has said that it prefers for an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to pass Congress (on this, we fervently agree!), and this Executive Order would be a powerful "down payment" on ENDA.
We'll continue our pressure on the campaign and on the White House over the next few weeks but, for now, we just wanted to share these brief updates. Thank you so much for your continued support and active organizing to always push for our elected leaders to stand with us in the movement for full LGBT equality!
Get Out! Get Active! GetEQUAL!
Robin McGehee, Director
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