Women and gays also get affirmative action hiring by the Federales. The Federal Gov’t in Washington DC has tons of gays and lesbians....they luuuuuuv those useless Federale jobs in EPA, Department of Education, EEOC etc etc
I'm no fan of the bloated, under-performing federal bureaucracy. But during part of my misguided young adulthood, I worked in a federal agency in Washington, DC. and served on many hiring “panels.” I never saw an explicit preference for women or gays. I did see preference for the disabled, sometimes to humorous effect (e.g., hiring someone with a speech impediment to be a telephone receptionist) and also for military veterans.