Our statement on today’s announcement that President Obama will sign the federal contractor employment protection Executive Order:
“We are thrilled the President is seriously considering signing the long awaited Executive Order for sexual orientation and gender identity protections for federal contractors, though we have concerns about any religious exemptions the White House would include.
Unfortunately, the present version of ENDA which passed the Senate last Fall was amended by Senators Ayotte and Portman to protect religiously affiliated federal contractors who legally discriminate against LGBT employees from retaliation by the federal government, thus gutting the as yet unsigned Executive Order.
We cannot accept this version of ENDA or an Executive Order which includes religious exemptions beyond those included in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Julian Bond has cautioned us against it and the women’s rights community (Hobby Lobby decision expected later this month) is furious with the LGBT community for sitting back accepting the broad religious exemptions contained in ENDA 2013.
We worry that thanks to the Ayotte/Portman amendment, Speaker Boehner will hurry to get this to the House floor. A golden opportunity to legally discriminate against the LGBT community might be too attractive for him to pass up.
1AngryOldLesbian.org strongly opposes any legislation or governmental action which legalizes discrimination. We strongly oppose the current version of ENDA and encourage others who only artfully craft language stating they oppose the exemptions, but still support the bill, to come out strongly and work with those of us campaigning to kill ENDA 2013.”
1 Angry Old Lesbian 
I completely agree with you. Since Obama can only go so far within the limitations of his office, and Republicans can only go so far without losing their seats to Tea Party candidates, we should, no, we must, do nothing.