Thread by @weareoversight

This week, the Supreme Court ruled that employers cannot discriminate against gay and transgender workers.

This is an important victory, especially since the Trump administration recently edited LGBT protections out of the US-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.

#FOIAFriday

We obtained documents through FOIA that show the lobbying efforts of anti-LGBT groups to exclude a provision from the USMCA that called on the countries to establish policies against job discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

americanoversight.org/document/ustr-…

U.S. Trade Representative C.J. Mahoney held meetings with the James Dobson Family Institute, Alliance Defending Freedom, and the Family Research Council about the anti-discrimination provision. @splcenter designates ADF and FRC as hate groups for their anti-LGBT extremism.

The Trump administration later added a footnote to the USMCA saying it did not need to establish policies against LGBT employment discrimination.

thinkprogress.org/trump-erases-l…

Documents we obtained suggest Mahoney allowed some of these anti-LGBT groups to review some draft language for this footnote.

These documents highlight the ongoing influence of groups that advocate discrimination in the Trump administration and show why this week’s Supreme Court ruling is so important.