Latest White House feature: Gender-neutral restroom
Barack Obama’s staff and visitors now have the option of using a gender-neutral restroom, a White House spokesman said Wednesday — the latest in a series of symbolic steps the Obama administration has taken to work the priorities of the LGBT community into its broader themes of inclusiveness and tolerance.
The newly designated restroom is an example of how the administration has been advancing the discussion by raising the profile of transgender issues, an area of debate that is especially hotly contested right now. The restroom will be located in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, where much of the White House staff works.
It’s a follow-up on Obama’s executive order, which went into effect Wednesday, banning discrimination against gay and transgender employees of companies that contract with the federal government.
The move advances a theme of openness Obama has been trying to promote in recent years, as he has elevated the concerns of gay and lesbian Americans to a level of moral urgency similar to that of the most prominent civil rights issues on the national agenda.
Besides his most famous gesture — his endorsement of same-sex marriage — Obama also captured attention when he saluted the struggles of gay Americans in his speech last month in Selma, Alabama, marking the 50th anniversary of one of the most important marches of the civil rights movement. In a passage about how Americans have always embraced social change, Obama declared: “We’re the gay Americans whose blood ran in the streets of San Francisco and New York, just as blood ran down this bridge.”
Obama also used the word “transgender” in this year’s State of the Union address, the first time a president has used the word in such a prominent speech.
On Wednesday, White House officials tried to keep that momentum going by promoting the LGBT executive order. White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett lauded the order in an op-ed in the Advocate, a magazine focused on LGBT issues.
“The president is determined to lead by example,” Jarrett wrote. “He has hired more openly LGBT Americans to serve in his administration than any other in history. And we have closely examined our internal policies on everything from benefits, to restroom access, to how we invite people to events, to ensure that everyone who enters this building feels safe and fully respected.”
Wild Thing’s comment…………
The gay community is a small amount in our population, but Obama is making it more important then anything else. His way of once again of destruction to our country. .
Our nation is going down the toilet right before our eyes and a majority of people can’t see it.
obama and the liberals are destroying every traditional aspect of America. These are very evil people.