President Obama’s choice to delay signing an
executive order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating against
gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender workers, in favor of pushing legislation
prohibiting such discrimination by all American businesses, has provoked Obama
supporter Peter Lewis, a champion of LGBT citizens, to spend $100,000.00 on a “We
Can’t Wait” campaign against the president. Announcing the publicity effort,
Peter’s son Jonathan Lewis said April 12, “This isn’t a broken promise
President Obama can blame on Congress. He has not been able to provide a single
valid reason for why he is now refusing to sign the executive order protecting
LGBT workers. It has become increasingly clear that this decision is based on
cowardice rather than principled leadership.”
While the proposed executive order, supported by 72
House Democrats in a letter to Obama, would protect 16 million LGBT workers not
already covered by existing business policies or state laws, White House Press
Secretary Jay Carney said that the legislation sought by the administration
would help more people than an executive order targeted only at businesses
contracting with the federal government. Obama’s detractors now say his refusal
to sign the proposed executive order is based on the desire to avoid giving
Mitt Romney a political issue which could solidify Romney’s appeal to the
evangelical base of the Republican Party in the upcoming general election.
