Obama signs anti-discrimination executive order without exempting religious groups, colleges

President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Monday requiring all federal contractors to not exclude people from being hired on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

The president’s federal mandate did not include a religious exemption, despite pleas from notable religious leaders across the country.

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Among those who signed a public letter to Obama was Gordon College President Michael Lindsay, invoking immediate backlash to the small Catholic institution.

“Without an exemption, any faith-based academic institution that chooses to set standards of conduct based on religious beliefs would be at risk of losing access to federal grants and government programs, which are important to Gordon and its students,” the college said in a statement last week.

Gordon College did not respond to Campus Reform’s request for comment.

The executive order’s lack of a religious exemption will likely not have a great impact as the schools with the largest federal contractors are generally secular research universities.

Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @K_Schallhorn