President Donald Trump on Tuesday pledged to support the rights of LGBTQ people in the federal workplace after speculation started to grow that he may do away with the 2014 executive order.
The White House, in a statement, said Trump would embrace gay rights as president, and the decision to keep the order intact came directly from Trump.
“President Trump continues to be respectful and supportive of L.G.B.T.Q. rights, just as he was throughout the election,” it said. “The president is proud to have been the first ever G.O.P. nominee to mention the L.G.B.T.Q. community in his nomination acceptance speech, pledging then to protect the community from violence and oppression.”
FILE – people gather in Lafayette Park to see the White House illuminated with rainbow colors in commemoration of the Supreme Court’s ruling to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington.
In 2014, former President Barack Obama provided new employment protections to gay and transgender federal contractors.
Tuesday’s announcement comes as some activist groups have expressed concern that Trump would do away with the order or institute some other policies that would have affected the gay community.
“Donald Trump has left the key question unanswered — will he commit to opposing any executive actions that allow government employees, taxpayer-funded organizations or even companies to discriminate?” Human Rights Coalition President Chad Griffin asked in a statement.
Over the weekend, media reports began to surface about a draft executive order that would have overturned the directive put in place by Obama. But at a press conference Monday, White House spokesman Sean Spicer wouldn’t say whether Trump was working on any “religious liberty” orders that could be seen as targeting gay rights.
“I’m not going to get ahead of the executive orders that we may or may not issue,” he said. “There’s a lot of executive orders, a lot of things the president has talked about and will continue to fulfill, but we have nothing on that front now.”
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