On July 21st 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13672, which added gender identity to the list of protected classes that the federal government does not discriminate against in employment. The order also added both sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of classes that federal contractors are prohibited from discriminating against.

Now, the Trump administration appears to be seeking to weaken those protections. Paige Smith writes for Bloomberg:

The Labor Department plans to prioritize religious liberty protections for federal contractors, but the timeline for explaining what that means for LGBT discrimination investigations is unknown. A spokesman declined to say when the department will release a new rule allowing contractors to use religious beliefs as a shield against job discrimination charges. That regulation would implement an Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs directive announced Aug. 10.

It’s unclear how they will employ the rule-making progress to achieve this. Still, it’s all the more reason why it’s time for Ohio to pass the Ohio Fairness Act so that when the federal government fails LGBTQ people, we have safety here at home.