The linked story from MSNBC isn’t long and it is a good read, so check it out with the link below, but here is a snip:

“I don’t see any downside,” said Biden on Thursday, when asked about the president’s reluctance to expand an existing executive order that already prohibits federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin – but not sexual orientation or gender identity.

However, Biden did say that the better approach would be for Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would cover the country’s entire workforce, not just the quarter employed by federal contractors.

“The way to do this is to pass ENDA,” said the vice president. “That ends [anti-LGBT discrimination] everywhere.”

Truly, Obama will go down in history as the most influential President when it comes to the LGBTQ community and our movement for Equality, but how about that Biden guy? Who said that being Vice President leaves a person without a chance to accomplish very much. If anything Biden deserves more credit than Obama for what change we have seen in the past six years!

Biden is often characterized as a person who speaks somewhat recklessly, but in reality, this is a very nuanced and thoughtful statement. He is both nudging the President, pointing out there is no real downside to the President making and Executive Order, and at the same time, he emphasizes what the President has been saying al along- that the right way to do this is for Congress to pass ENDA. He both confronts Obama’s position while he supports it. I don’t think anyone else in the Gay Press will catch that, but there you have it.

Groups like GetEqual were calling for the President to issue such an Executive Order well before the last election. At that time, I thought they were wrong and agreed with Obama, that he should allow Congress to do what they ought to do without interference. But he had a big part of it wrong. It doesn’t do the American People any good to let Congress do its job when it refuses to do so. At least at that point, he had some rational reason to put off an Executive Order, but no longer! Now, this far into his second term there is no rational reason to wait. It is time for an Executive Order, even if it accomplishes less than ENDA would accomplish.

via Biden gets out in front of Obama on LGBT discrimination | MSNBC.