Among Minnesota’s Democratic congressional delegation, only Rep. Collin Peterson is missing from a letter sent to President Obama last week urging him to sign an executive order prohibiting discrimination in federal contracting.

In the absence of federal law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, congressional democrats are urging Obama to sign an executive order barring businesses and organizations that contract with the federal government from discriminating.

Minnesota Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken, along with Reps. Keith Ellison, Betty McCollum, and Rick Nolan were among more than 200 Democrats signing the letter. That’s the most members of Congress to date.

The letter states:

We are writing to urge you to fulfill the promise in your State of the Union address to make this a “year of action” and build upon the momentum of 2013 by signing an executive order banning federal contractors from engaging in employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans. As you have said before, “now is the time to end this kind of discrimination, not enable it.”
As we continue to work towards final passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) with strong bipartisan support, we urge you to take action now to protect millions of workers across the country from the threat of discrimination simply because of who they are or who they love. We are committed to doing all that we can in Congress to get ENDA to your desk
this year; however, there is no reason you cannot immediately act by taking this important step.
The Employment NonDiscrimination Act has been stalled in Congress for more than a decade. Minnesota currently has a nondiscrimination law that covers sexual orientation and gender identity. That law was passed in 1993.

Rep. Collin Peterson, the only Democrat from Minnesota not to sign, has consistently opposed LGBT rights. He voted against the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, voted for the Defense of Marriage Act, and was the only Minnesota Democrat to not push for its repeal.