Many state and local governments already had laws on the books to cover LGBT employees. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) covers discrimination based Age, Disability, Equal Pay/Compensation, Genetic Information, Harassment, National Origin, Pregnancy, Race/Color, Religion, Retaliation, Sex, Sexual Harassment. However there is no one specific federal law that covers employment discrimination of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) employees in the United States. But through a series of court cases the LGBT community is now covered by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Complaints of employment discrimination on the basis of transgender and sexual orientation (lesbian, gay, and bisexual) are now being investigated under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as claims of sex discrimination. The federal sector EEO complaint process at 29 C.F.R. Part 1614 now also covers LGBT employees claims under sex discrimination.
Other Federal Processes for Addressing LGBT employment discrimination include:
Executive Order 13087. Executive Order 13087 explicitly prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation. As such, federal agencies may retain procedures that permit employees to file complaints of sexual orientation discrimination under the Executive Order.
Office of Special Counsel. Employees may also file complaints of sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination with the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), which receives and investigates allegations of prohibited personnel practices under Title V of the Civil Service Act. OSC has taken the position that allegations of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity may constitute prohibited personnel actions and therefore will accept and investigate complaints of sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination filed by federal employees.
