One of the many executive orders signed by President Barack Obama expanded protections in federal hiring, which already barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, to also include gender identity.
Additionally, the order required all companies doing business with the federal government to have explicit policies barring discrimination against gay and transgender workers. This includes Christian-owned businesses that have contracts with any federal government agency.
In total, Obama’s order applied to 24,000 companies that collectively employ about 28 million workers, which is roughly one-fifth of the total U.S. workforce. This week, President Donald Trump—despite assurances he would protect religious liberty—has announced he plans to keep the order in place.
Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, issued the following statement regarding that decision:
This is the first sign we have that President Trump will be triangulating on homosexuality versus abortion. As exhilarated as we were to watch the Trump administration confidently and boldly stand for the protection of the unborn at the March for Life, we are now deeply disappointed that Mr. Trump has chosen to defend false LGBTQ “rights” based on changeable homosexual and gender-confused behaviors.
We understand that, in many ways, Trump’s non-action in accepting Obama’s 2014 pro-LGBTQ executive order echoes the compromised culture. It might even be a politically savvy move to defend “gay” and “transgender” “rights” while simultaneously being pro-life. However, it also lacks principle, as genuine rights—which come from God—can never be based on sinful, changeable, unnatural conduct proscribed in the Bible. Furthermore, homosexuality, like abortion, is inherently anti-life.
We further understand that President Trump comes out of a New York City background in which he advocated for homosexual “rights.” But to now use his bully pulpit to proclaim “rights” and favored treatment based on a sexual sin and gender rebellion is wrong. (See Romans 1—which Obama pooh-poohed.) No matter how powerful the new president is, he, like Obama, is utterly powerless to change God’s eternal moral law.
We call on all pro-family and pro-life groups to stay principled in their advocacy, and not to look the other way when Donald Trump stumbles on truth. We condemned Obama when he advanced a sin-based agenda in the name of “equality.” We must do no less with President Trump.
