Protecting LGBT workers a priority for advocates in 2013

With marriage equality tied up in the courts, national LGBT advocates say they’ll push Congress and the Obama administration to act on measures that seek to shield Americans from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. A bipartisan Senate vote in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act could move the issue forward and add pressure to bring it up in the Republican-controlled House, according to openly gay Rep. Jared Polis, D-Colo (pictured). 

Meanwhile, LGBT organizations continue to ask President Obama to sign an executive order that would ban LGBT employment discrimination among federal contractors, a move that would extend those protections to more than 20% of the U.S. workforce.