No Faith Exception in White House Order on Anti-Gay Bias

President Obama is set to sign an executive order Monday barring federal contractors from discriminating against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees, The New York Times reports. The directive will not exempt religious nonprofits, as had been sought by many faith groups.

Gay-rights organizations stepped up pressure on the president to sign the order and not to add a faith exception, following the Supreme Court’s June 30 Hobby Lobby decision, which held that family-run corporations could opt out of the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate on religious grounds. The ruling raised fears among LGBT activists that government contractors would cite religious objections to hiring sexual minorities.

Faith groups sought an exclusion to ensure they would not lose federal funds if they could not meet the new rules because of their beliefs. Galen Carey, the vice president of government relations for the National Association of Evangelicals, predicted a lengthy court fight over the order.