Activists To Push Obama On Gay Rights In Second Term

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) plans to push President Barack Obama on an expanded gay rights agenda in his second term.

HRC, the nation's largest gay rights advocate, believes it can parlay its biggest election night ever into concrete advances for the LGBT movement, including an executive order which would extend LGBT workplace protections to federal contractors and the appointment of an out cabinet secretary.

Obama declined to sign such an order in April, saying he prefers passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would outlaw workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. But with a Republican-controlled House, passage appears unlikely.

“Since my first conversations there, it's something I've pushed for, I've urged, privately and publicly,” HRC President Chad Griffin told BuzzFeed.com. “We will continue to do that.”

Also backing the effort is the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

“I think it's important for us to move forward and show some momentum that there's protections for LGBT workers,” Darlene Nipper, deputy executive director of the group, told The Hill. “This would be huge. You have to understand the enormity of the impact it would have for so many people in our community.”

On the appointment of an out cabinet member, Griffin said he hopes the president will act.

“We made historic progress with President Obama in terms of our openly LGBT appointments across the board,” he said. “We now have the opportunity, and I hope this president and this White House will seize the opportunity to have the first openly LGBT cabinet secretary, the first openly LGBT G-8 ambassador, and across the board with administrative appointments and judges as well.”