Those who oppose equality for LGBT people will take every opportunity to disrupt even long-settled law and policy in a political culture defined by backlash.



That’s why, even though the LGBT movement won the marriage equality fight, this is no time for complacency. There is more work to be done, and we can start by focusing our efforts to secure equality in labor protection – both nationally and in the 31 states where it is still legal to fire people for being gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.

It won’t be an easy fight, and it might involve some repetition. This past February, Kansas governor Sam Brownback unilaterally rescinded the executive order I passed as governor there in 2007 protecting state workers from discrimination-based on gender identity and sexual orientation. In March, the hubbub around Indiana’s Religious Freedom Restoration Act stalled similar laws in Texas and Georgia, but you can bet they’ll be back.

On Tuesday, voters in Houston, Texas, will go to the polls to consider Proposition 1, the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance. The law would establish protections for more than a dozen distinct groups, but opponents have primarily campaigned against the protections it creates for trans people, rallying around the discriminatory and false slogan “no men in women’s bathrooms”.

Supporters of LGBT rights should take the story of President Obama’s Affordable Care Act as a cautionary tale as they proceed, because it has succeeded in a context of near-complete refusal on the part of Republican congressional leaders to acknowledge its legitimacy, despite the fact that it has been an enormous success by almost every measure. (I was the Health and Human Services secretary during its initial rollout.)

President Obama signed the ACA into law in March 2010. Tens of millions of people who didn’t have health insurance before do now. In 2010, more than 16% of Americans had no health insurance. By the second quarter of 2015, that number had dropped to 9.2%.

As the President promised, his plan has held down medical cost inflation: the average family pays $2,500 less in premiums than they would have without the ACA.

Nevertheless, House Republicans have voted to repeal Obamacare more than 50 times. If the US supreme court’s decision in King v Burwell had gone differently in June, more than 6 million people might have lost the ability to buy insurance on the federal exchange – which would have resulted in almost unfathomable human costs.

Yet just as supporters of ACA have implemented the legislation in the face of massive opposition, supporters of LGBT equality must be prepared for a war of attrition. We’ll need to defend the ground we’ve gained. And we’ll need to work to secure anti-discrimination laws nationwide.

We can’t do this without the support of the business community, which was vital throughout the marriage equality fight and will be no less necessary going forward. I therefore call on American businesses to support the passage of the Equality Act in the United States Congress. Introduced in the House in July and currently in committee, the act would update federal civil rights legislation to add sexual orientation and gender identity as legally protected statuses. More than 60% of Americans don’t realize that these protections don’t already exist, and it’s past time they did.

Additionally, just as same-sex marriage gained state traction before national recognition, businesses must also advocate at the state level for the passage of nondiscrimination laws in the 29 states where you can be fired for being gay, and the 31 where you can be fired for being transgender.

When Indiana passed its RFRA, companies with operations in the state such as Salesforce and Eli Lilly reacted immediately, communicating clearly and effectively about how the law would negatively impact their ability to do business. But businesses can and should be more proactive in the effort to extend equality to all LGBT Americans, because most observers believe that more RFRAs are on the horizon.

Business speaks loudly, but ordinary citizens can help, too. Seven of 10 Americans believe that LGBT people should be protected by law from being discriminated against in employment, housing and services. Americans who support equality should learn whether their state has nondiscrimination legislation that includes LGBT people – and if it does not, they should contact their legislators to express their dissatisfaction.

Additionally, LGBT people and allies should learn which businesses are supporting the Equality Act and make the choice to spend their money with them. LGBT Americans’ annual buying power is estimated to be $884bn – that’s a lot of leverage.

The time to redouble our efforts to secure equality for all under the nation’s employment laws is now. We don’t have the luxury to celebrate past victories.