American Civil Liberties Union

It was recently revealed in internal strategy memos from the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage that the organization hoped to pit racial and ethnic minorities against the LGBT community as a way to defeat and rollback gay rights advances, specifically marriage for same-sex couples. The memos included the following: The strategic goal of this project is to drive a wedge between gays and blacks — two key Democratic constituencies. Another expressed goal was to make opposition to marriage for same-sex couples a "key badge of Latino identity."

Late Wednesday afternoon, it was reported that the Obama administration had made the decision to delay issuing an executive order to ensure that federal contractors receiving tax dollars do not discriminate against applicants and employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The decision to delay issuing the executive order is extremely disappointing. The reality remains that it is legal to fire or refuse to hire someone based on their sexual orientation in 29 states. Those who are transgender can be fired or denied employment solely based on their gender identity in 34 states. The costs of LGBT workplace discrimination are especially heavy on gay and transgender people of color, who have been shown to face disproportionately high rates of unemployment and poverty.

On Thursday, subscribers to the conservative Weekly Standard received an email fundraising pitch from the president of a fringe anti-gay organization, Public Advocate of the United States, which directed tremendous venom at the Student Non-Discrimination Act, labeling it the “Homosexual Classrooms Act.” The email, first reported by Justin Elliott writing on Salon.com, opens with the following outrageous and hate-filled accusation, which would be laughable if it were not so deeply offensive: