c. 2014 Religion News Service
(RNS) One of the toughest political calculations in Washington is balancing competing claims of gay rights with the traditional prerogatives of religious freedom. After a number of setbacks on that front, President Obama may have finally found a small patch of middle ground with today’s move to bar federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation.
Obama’s executive order shields gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees from discrimination by companies that do work for the federal government by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to long-standing protections from bias based on “race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
