Commerce Department Responds After LGBT Backlash Over Equal Employment Statement
- 7 years ago
The U.S. Commerce Department has agreed to amend the latest version of its equal employment opportunity, or EEO, statement after being criticized for omitting references to protecting staff on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The U.S. Commerce Department has agreed to amend the latest version of its equal employment opportunity, or EEO, statement after being criticized for omitting references to protecting staff on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
David Mack with BuzzFeed News tweeted the update on Thursday, writing that “Commerce Dpt says Sec Ross will reissue equal employment policy after I reported he'd excluded LGBT people.”
Mack also included a statement by the department which states, in part, that the EEO it sent out “was never intended to change the policy or exclude any protected categories.”
The official response also notes that their policy continues to be that they “do not discriminate on the basis of transgender status and sexual orientation.”
The controversy arose after BuzzFeed and the Washington Post reported that those two groups had been left out of Commerce’s recently distributed 2017 EEO statement which, at the time, read that the department “does not tolerate behavior, harassment, discrimination or prejudice based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability.”
In contrast, last year’s notice stated, in part, that the department “does not tolerate discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex..., sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age..., genetic information, or disability…..”
The exclusion caused LGBT groups to speak out including David Stacy with the Human Rights Campaign who told BuzzFeed, “Cutting specific mention of sexual orientation and gender identity protections is a slap in the face to LGBTQ federal employees who proudly serve at the Department of Commerce and sadly signals that this administration does not value them.”
The Center of American Progress also tweeted about the original report on omission, "This doesn't change the rights of LGBTQ federal employees, but it sends the message that they're unwelcome. It's hateful and mean-spirited."
The U.S. Commerce Department has agreed to amend the latest version of its equal employment opportunity, or EEO, statement after being criticized for omitting references to protecting staff on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
David Mack with BuzzFeed News tweeted the update on Thursday, writing that “Commerce Dpt says Sec Ross will reissue equal employment policy after I reported he'd excluded LGBT people.”
Mack also included a statement by the department which states, in part, that the EEO it sent out “was never intended to change the policy or exclude any protected categories.”
The official response also notes that their policy continues to be that they “do not discriminate on the basis of transgender status and sexual orientation.”
The controversy arose after BuzzFeed and the Washington Post reported that those two groups had been left out of Commerce’s recently distributed 2017 EEO statement which, at the time, read that the department “does not tolerate behavior, harassment, discrimination or prejudice based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability.”
In contrast, last year’s notice stated, in part, that the department “does not tolerate discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex..., sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age..., genetic information, or disability…..”
The exclusion caused LGBT groups to speak out including David Stacy with the Human Rights Campaign who told BuzzFeed, “Cutting specific mention of sexual orientation and gender identity protections is a slap in the face to LGBTQ federal employees who proudly serve at the Department of Commerce and sadly signals that this administration does not value them.”
The Center of American Progress also tweeted about the original report on omission, "This doesn't change the rights of LGBTQ federal employees, but it sends the message that they're unwelcome. It's hateful and mean-spirited."