Trump Continues 'Absurd' Obama LGBT Policy

Radio America News

Social conservatives are thrilled with President Trump for his pro-life actions and his choice for the Supreme Court, but he is taking heat from the right for extending an Obama-era executive order which places LGBT agenda mandates on federal contractors. Liberty Counsel Chairman Mathew Staver says it all started under the Obama administration three years ago. 1cIn 2014, President Obama, contrary to any federal law, issued an executive order saying any contractor who does business with the federal government has to have this so-called LGBT and even Q (for) questioning, which is part of that alphabet soup, and they had to put this into their employment systems, 1d said Staver. 1cThey were imposing on employers the LGBTQ agenda when they didn 19t have any federal law as authority, 1d said Staver. Staver says Trump made a big mistake in continuing the policy. 1cWe were hoping that would be one of those executive orders that would go by the wayside, but when President Trump came into office, sadly he continued that executive order in 2017, 1d said Staver. 1cThat is going way beyond the federal law. Federal law does not have sexual orientation or gender identity in the employment context or in any other context with regard to employment or public accommodation, 1d said Staver. He says Congress has repeatedly stiff-armed the LGBT agenda on this front, which is why Obama resorted to an executive order. 1cCongress has been asked several times to include sexual orientation and gender identity into the federal employment law and they have rejected that urging. Consequently, not only does the law not have it but we see from Congress they don 19t want it in there. So why would the president go over and above them and impose this on employers anyway? 1d said Staver. 1cIt 19s understandable for Obama, but it 19s just not acceptable for President Trump, 1d he said. The order requires any firm bidding for a federal contract to adopt policies protecting employees who wish to identify as a different gender than their biological sex would indicate. It also requires businesses to accommodate such personnel by allowing them to using restrooms and other intimate facilities according to their gender identity. And those companies refusing to comply will be left out in the cold on federal contracts. 1cAny company that doesn 19t want to have this absurd policy in place or a policy that violates their sincerely-held religious beliefs, they 19re going to have to sit on the sideline. They won 19t be able to do business with the federal government, 1d said Staver. Staver also asserts that the protections offered through this executive order are not the equivalent of other anti-discrimination protections enshrined in law. 1cGender identity is completely in a different category than discrimination on the basis of race or religion, which is protected by the first amendment, 1d said Staver. He also argues the policy flies in the face of Trump 19s top goal of jump-starting the economy. 1cIf we want to have America first and we want to create jobs? Don 19t put this absurd policy on them when the federal law does not impose it, 1d said Staver. While Staver lauds Trump for his pro-life actions and for selecting Judge Neil Gorsuch for the Supreme Court, he says this is an area where Trump has always disappointed traditional marriage advocates. 1cHe never was on our side it looked like on the so-called LGBT agenda. Certainly, he 19s not on the level of President Obama, who was radical in that respect, 1d said Staver. 1cUnfortunately, in the first two weeks of office, he does this executive order and that 19s disturbing. 1d Staver says conservatives need to make a compelling case to Trump to change course. 1cI think he needs to be educated on this issue and he needs to reverse this policy that Obama ultimately instituted, 1d said Staver.