After growing speculation that the Trump administration had drafted an early execution order rolling back protection rights for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender workers, the White House has issued a strong denial.

The administration issued a statement saying that a 2014 directive by President Barack Obama that barred discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the federal workforce and by federal contractors would remain in place.

Earlier, the Washington Post had reported that a draft of an executive order that would reverse the directive was being circulated.

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An LGBT Executive Order reversing LGBT federal workers is not happening, said the White House

The New Civil Rights Movement reported that the potential order may get signed before Thursday.

But after White House spokesman Sean Spicer refused to answer the question put to him by various media outlets, the White House finally issued a statement after speculation reached a fever pitch.

'President Trump continues to be respectful and supportive of LGBTQ rights, just as he was throughout the election,' the statement said. 'The president is proud to have been the first ever GOP nominee to mention the LGBTQ community in his nomination acceptance speech, pledging then to protect the community from violence and oppression.'

The statement continued that the decision was all Trump's, according to the New York Times.

When originally confronted with the question of an LGBT rights roll back, Spicer had said, 'I'm not getting ahead of the executive orders that we may or may not issue.'

Later, Mary Emily O'Hara of NBC News tweeted that 'White House Deputy Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham tells me an executive order on LGBT policy 'isn’t the plan at this time.'

The new statement is much stronger than this earlier semi-denial.

The directive that expanded LGBT protections for federal workers signed under Obama in 2014 added gender orientation to the gay, lesbian and bisexual classes protected in federal hiring practices.

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It also required all companies doing business with the federal government to have explicit policies barring discrimination against gay and transgender workers, said the outlet.

The directive affected 24,000 companies and 28 million workers, about one fifth of the US workforce.

The directive drew sharp criticism from religious groups as it did not contain an exemption for religious groups that work with the government.

Faith-based groups argued that this could affect the federal grants they would get that would assist people with poverty and natural disasters.

While Trump said during his first post-election interview on 60 Minutes that the courts have 'settled' the matter of same-sex marriage, he also said in January 2016 on Fox News, that he would 'strongly consider' appointing a Supreme Court judge to reverse it.

And the socially conservative forces who propelled Trump into office are pressuring him to push back on LGBT rights, says the Post.

Vice President Mike Pence is not known as a friend of the gay community and as governor of Indiana he signed a bill, known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which would have opened the door to allowing businesses not to serve gays or transsexuals. After a national outcry, the most objected-to parts of the bill were rescinded, according to The Huffington Post.

'The Trump administration has shown that it’s willing to go against core American values of freedom and equality, and it’s troubling to hear they may target LGBT people as well,' James Esseks, director of the LGBT program at the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Washington Post.

According to earlier speculation, Trump's potential executive order could also allow federal employees to discriminate or refuse service on the basis of 'sincerely-held religious beliefs,' a source told New Civil Rights Movement. The source also said the order would be signed before Thursday.

Washington Post political columnist Josh Rogin said on twitter that the order could affect federal service workers' benefits, as well as adoption agencies that receive federal funding, and allow federal workers to refuse to serve LGBT.