A recent letter from 47 Senators and 148 members of the House asks the President to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating on the bases of sexual orientation and gender identity in their employment policies. According to rumors, such an executive order has been ready in the White House for many months, just waiting for the President’s signature.

Unlike the ENDA bill (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) passed last November by the Senate, the executive order would cover only organizations that contract with the federal government, not all private employers and government agencies.

That Senate bill includes a religious-organization exemption, which was strengthened as the bill was considered by Senators. A big question: will an LGBT executive order include a religious organization exemption so that faith-based organizations can continue to contract with the federal government without having to abandon their sexual conduct standards? Another big question: will such an executive order leave intact the language added to federal contracting rules by President George W. Bush, which allows religious organizations to contact with the federal government even though they consider religion in their employment decisions?

Mysteries abound. Is there an executive order? What is in it? Will the President ever issue it? In the meantime, IRFA has engaged the administration in various ways to advocate that, if such an executive order is issued, it must leave intact the religious hiring protections and include an exemption for all religious organizations.

Stay tuned! Federal contracts are used mainly by the government to procure goods and services for itself (tanks, janitorial services, computers), and yet it also contracts for research, technical assistance, and some social services (Bureau of Prisons, USAID)-products and services that currently are supplied, in part, by faith-based organizations. Besides, each decision the federal government makes on these matters either helps to establish a fair balance between religious freedom and LGBT rights or else contributes to shoving religion to the margins of the public square.