Yesterday, the White House issued a statement that President Trump will continue to enforce an Obama-era executive order prohibiting discrimination by federal contractors against LGBT employees.  The statement can be found here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/01/31/president-donald-j-trump-will-continue-enforce-executive-order

A good discussion of the statement can be found at the web site for The Hill: http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/317026-white-house-trump-will-continue-to-enforce-lgbtq-workplace

Last year, LGBT issues were frequently in the headlines, and I wrote about some of those issues here (Emerging LGBT Issues) and here (EEOC – Transgender Bathrooms).  In particular, President Obama’s Executive Order 13672 prohibits transgender discrimination by federal contractors.  The United States Department of Labor has prepared a Fact Sheet interpreting that order, which provides:

Under the Final Rule, contractors must ensure that their restroom access policies and procedures do not discriminate based on the sexual orientation or gender identity of an applicant or employee. In keeping with the federal government’s existing legal position on this issue, contractors must allow employees and applicants to use restrooms consistent with their gender identity.

That fact sheet can be found here:  DOL Fact Sheet on LGBT Discrimination

The White House statement is just that — a statement.  It provides some guidance to federal contractors who employ members of the LGBT community.  Nevertheless, as The Hill notes, the statement merely promises to keep the executive order “intact.”  There is still some speculation that the order might be edited or revised to increase religious exemptions.