On Equal Pay Day, many urge further action

President Obama signed an executive order addressing the gender pay gap among federal contractors on Tuesday, which also marks National Equal Pay Day.

The executive order prohibits federal contractors from retaliating against employees who discuss their salaries. Obama also signed a presidential memorandum that instructs the secretary of labor to create regulations requiring contractors to report their wage data to the government, including figures broken down by gender and race

Obama also spoke in support of the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would establish the same standards as his two executive actions for most employers and is up for a vote in the Senate this week.  

Online, many discussed the gender wage gap and President Obama's executive actions using the hashtags #EqualPay, #equalpayday2014 and #WithoutTheWageGapIWould.

Several explained why National Equal Pay Day was celebrated on April 8, and why the symbolic date would actually be later in the year for women of color: