--- title: Obama to Ban Job Discrimination on Basis of Gender Identity description: The order would apply to federal employees canonical: https://time.com/2942745/obama-executive-order-gender-identity/ author: Nolan Feeney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-07-01T00:12:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T08:54:48.169Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama to Ban Job Discrimination on Basis of Gender Identity og:description: The order would apply to federal employees og:url: https://time.com/2942745/obama-executive-order-gender-identity/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama to Ban Job Discrimination on Basis of Gender Identity twitter:description: The order would apply to federal employees twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Obama to Issue Executive Order Banning Gender-Identity Discrimination in Federal Jobs  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Jul 1, 2014 12:12 AM UTC  by [Nolan Feeney](https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Jul 1, 2014 12:12 AM UTC President Barack Obama revealed White House plans for an executive order that would ban job discrimination on the basis of gender identity among federal employees. Obama’s announcement Monday fell during a White House reception celebrating [LGBT Pride Month](http://www.whitehouse.gov/champions/LGBT-Pride-Month). His remarks follow [previously announced plans](http://www.politico.com/story/2014/06/obama-executive-order-gender-identity-lgbt-108462.html) to also sign an executive order that would prohibit federal contractors from employee discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation. Federal employees are already protected on the basis of sexual orientation. “The majority of Fortune 500 companies already have nondiscrimination policies to protect their employees because it’s the right thing to do and because many say it helps to retain and attract the best talent,” Obama said. “And I agree. So if Congress won’t act, I will.” Transgender people experience disproportionate rates of discrimination in the workplace, and only [37 percent of Americans](http://transequality.org/Issues/discrimination.html) live in an area of the U.S. that protects employees on the basis of gender identity, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/2942745/obama-executive-order-gender-identity/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/2942745/obama-executive-order-gender-identity/"},"headline":"Obama to Issue Executive Order Banning Gender-Identity Discrimination in Federal Jobs","datePublished":"2014-07-01T00:12:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T08:54:48.169Z","description":"The order would apply to federal employees","url":"https://time.com/2942745/obama-executive-order-gender-identity/","keywords":["LGBT","Barack Obama","White House","Transgender"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/lgbt/","name":"LGBT"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/2942745/obama-executive-order-gender-identity/","name":"Obama to Issue Executive Order Banning Gender-Identity Discrimination in Federal Jobs"}}]}] ```