SPLC statement on Trump proposal allowing discrimination by federal contractors

Southern Poverty Law Center Deputy Legal Director David Dinielli issued the following statement regarding the Trump administration’s decision to propose a rule that would allow federal contractors to discriminate based on immutable characteristics, including race, national origin, sex and LGBTQ status by citing a religious objection:
 
“Donald Trump’s Department of Labor has proposed regulations to ‘clarify’ the scope of an executive order that otherwise prohibits various forms of discrimination by federal contractors. 
 
“The purpose of this proposal is clear: to pander to the extremists within the administration’s base, including groups that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as anti-LGBTQ hate groups, all of whom have claimed for years that prohibitions on discrimination somehow trample religious liberty.  
 
“The federal government should not be in the business of doling out contracts and payments to corporations that refuse to treat all Americans fairly and equitably.”