NCTE Welcomes Non-Discrim Order Final Federal Contractors Rule

Download: "Employment Discrimination and Transgender People" 

Washington, DC - December 3, 2014 - Today, the U.S. Department of Labor announced a final rule to implement President Obama's July 21 Executive Order 13672 prohibiting federal contractors and subcontractors from discriminating in employment practices on the bases of gender identity and sexual orientation.

The National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) welcomes this move by the Administration toward implementing stronger protections for millions of LGBT workers across the country. We strongly urge all workers who have faced discrimination to seek legal help and file federal complaints-regardless of whether they work for Federal contractors. Further guidance from the Department, addressing everyday workplace barriers many transgender workers face, is urgently needed to ensure this rule translates into true equal opportunity. 

According to NCTE Executive Director Mara Keisling, "We are pleased that the administration has taken this next step and we're eager to continue working with them to clarify more and more in every possible way that job discrimination against transgender people is illegal always and everywhere-regardless of where the worker lives and what kind of employer they have."

The US Department of Education this week issued guidance further confirming that schools must respect a student's gender identity in matters such as taking single-sex classes. As in previous federal guidance, transgender students were addressed as part of a larger document dealing with a specific issue--in this case, when and how K-12  schools may offer single-sex classes.

For more information about transgender people's employment rights, see our Know Your Rights: Employment Discrimination and Transgender People.

To speak with Mara Keisling, please contact Vincent Paolo Villano / vvillano@transequality.org / 202-631-9640.
  

The National Center for Transgender Equality is a national social justice organization devoted to ending discrimination and violence against transgender people through education and advocacy on national issues of importance to transgender people. By empowering transgender people and our allies to educate and influence policymakers and others, NCTE facilitates a strong and clear voice for transgender equality in our nation's capital and around the country. The National Center for Transgender Equality is a 501(c)3 organization.