Tag Archives: Metropolitan Community Churches

Op Ed: President Obama’s Latest Executive Order Protecting LGBT Americans – The True “American” Thing To Do!

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Check out the many useful links to additional resources provided in this blog!

MAJOR UPDATE: On December 4, the US Dept of Labor announced the specific implementation of President Obama’s July executive order adding LGBT protections for federal contractors. All companies with new or modified federal contracts including subcontracts after April 6, 2015 must have non-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation and gender identity!

President Obama signing the executive order protecting LGBT Americans working at the Federal Government level. (photo by Jewel Samad, AFP / Getty Images)

President Obama signing the executive order protecting LGBT Americans working at the Federal Government level. (photo by Jewel Samad, AFP / Getty Images)


In my last week’s blog “The Great United States / North Carolina Diversity Divide,” (link) I contrasted two recent advances for LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender) equality and fairness at the US Federal Level with a recent North Carolina Governor’s executive order on equal opportunity that excludes LGBT citizens. One of those Federal advances was President Obama’s promise to soon sign an executive order giving workplace protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity for federal employees and contractors. The big update: the promised executive order was indeed signed by President Obama on Monday, July 21st!

The executive order included two parts. First, it makes it illegal to fire or harass employees of federal contractors based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. Second, it explicitly adds discrimination against transgender employees of the federal government (President Clinton had already included sexual orientation protections for federal employees earlier.) And very importantly, the executive order is all-inclusive and does NOT include a bunch of exemptions.

Here are three links to additional details:
• An excellent Huffington Post article about the executive order
• The official White House blog entry
• The actual text of the order.

What I find truly amazing is that some press outlets led with the headline, “President Obama’s LGBT Executive Order Endangers Religious Liberties.” For example, check out this Fox News story (link). Huh? How in the world does providing equal treatment for all Americans in the federal workplace endanger religious freedom? I would think that people of all faiths would want to make sure all people in our country were treated equally. In fact, many supportive religious leaders were in the ceremony when President Obama signed the order. (See photo) Also, check out this link to an excellent supportive commentary written by Rev. Elder Dr. Nancy Wilson, Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches.

Supportive religious leaders gathering in the White House Garden after witnessing the signing of this historic executive order. (Photo courtesy of Rev Rob Keithan)

Supportive religious leaders gathering in the White House Garden after witnessing the signing of this historic executive order. (Photo courtesy of Rev Rob Keithan)


I would argue that there is absolutely no threat to religious freedom by this order. If a company felt so strongly that they should remove qualified LGBT Americans from their company or harass them, then they can make the choice to forgo doing business with the Federal Government. In fact, discriminating against LGBT people does a grave disservice to our country. As an American, I would want all subcontractors working for my government to have the very best, most qualified people working on these contracts regardless of gender, race, religion, or sexual orientation and gender identity.

Really – fairness, equal treatment, and having the best people empowered to do the best job they can is the true American way!

Five Heroes of the early US Gay Rights Movement

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This is my third and final installment of my “lists of five” as we approach June and LGBT Pride Month. Please do link to and read my first two installments:
• LINK: Five things to never say to gay people
• LINK: Five common misconceptions about gay people

In this third and final installment here is my list of five heroes of the early LGBT rights movement in the USA:

Photo: Lesbian pioneer activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon who were partners for 56 years before Del passed away in 2008.

Photo: Lesbian pioneer activists Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon who were partners for 56 years before Del passed away in 2008.


1. Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon. These two lesbians met at work in 1950 and began their relationship two years later. They were active in the Council of Religion and the Homosexual, National Organization for Women (NOW) and helped form the early lesbian group and publication “Daughters of Bilitis” in 1955. Del and Phyllis realized their life-long dream of legally marrying on June 16, 2008 as soon as California permitted same-gender marriage, and Del died two months later at the age of 87.

2. Dr. Frank Kameny. Frank was an out open gay man who was fired simply for being gay from his job as an astronomer for the US Army Map Service. His court case proceeded all the way to the

I got to meet Dr. Frank Kameny in October, 2009, two years before he passed.

I got to meet Dr. Frank Kameny in October, 2009, two years before he passed.

US Supreme Court (he lost), but Frank continued to be a leading gay-rights activist and lead and won the battle to have homosexuality removed from the American Psychiatric Association’s classification of mental disorders. Frank passed away in October 2011 at the age of 86.

3. Bayard Rustin. Bayard was an African-American civil rights leader who was the main organizer of Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1963 March of Washington. He was a long-time key figure working behind the scenes in the Black Civil Rights movement and in the later part of his career in the 1970s and 1980s shifted his focus to gay rights work, mostly in New York state.

4. The drag queens of Stonewall. On June 27-28, 1969, several patrons (a hand full of drag queens) of the Stonewall gay bar got fed up with the unfair police harassment at the bar and fought back, leading the “Stonewall Rebellion” which is considered by most people the beginning of the US’s Gay Rights Movement. Many cities now celebrate LGBT pride the last weekend of June each year to commemorate these brave members of our community.

5. Rev. Troy Perry. As a gay minister, Troy was forced out of his pastorate. Having the strong call to minister to the LGBT community, Troy held a worship service in his home with 12 people in October, 1968, and from this humble beginnings, Troy lead the Metropolitan Community Churches to become a dynamic global movement of approximately 15,000 members of over 200 churches across 40 different countries.

We should all remember and honor these leaders who paved the way for all us to continue in the journey for full equality of all LGBT people across the globe.