P H I L A D E L P H I A , PENNSYLVANIA – Saying that the Republican presidential nominee is “out of step” with “public opinion,” the LGBT civil rights organization Equality Forum is calling for Mitt Romney to support federal legislation to protect LGBT Americans from workplace discrimination.

In a statement this week, the Philadelphia-based advocacy group noted that although in “2007, Republican Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan voted in favor of the unsuccessful attempt to amend the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act [ENDA] to include sexual orientation and gender identity,” Romney himself “has taken no position on including [these] in ENDA.”

“With Gov. Romney’s support, amending ENDA to include sexual orientation and gender identity would be a slam dunk,” said Malcolm Lazin, Equality Forum’s executive director. “His equivocation on amending ENDA makes Gov. Romney out of step with the Fortune 500 and public opinion.” Lazin noted that while both President Obama and the GOP’s own vice presidential candidate support amending ENDA to include sexual orientation and gender identity, the Republican platform takes no position on it. He added that recent polls show over 75 percent of Americans supporting the inclusion of sexual orientation in federal ENDA, including a majority of Democrats, Republicans, Independents, seniors, Catholics and small business owners.