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It seems 60% of Americans now support acceptance of LGBT people in the USA. This is a jump from 53% last year.
Although Republican presidential candidates seem unfortunately and stubbornly wedded to anti-LGBT individuals and organisations, corporate America isn’t following suit. Instead, businesses are following popular opinion in supporting LGBT rights and investing in equality.
Scott McCorkle, CEO of the Salesforce Marketing Cloud division said, ‘We have been an active member of the Indiana business community and a key job creator for more than a decade [and] Our success is fundamentally based on our ability to attract and retain the best and most diverse pool of highly skilled employees, regardless of gender, religious affiliation, ethnicity or sexual orientation.’
He added, ‘Without an open business environment that welcomes all residents and visitors. Salesforce will be unable to continue building on its tradition of marketing innovation in Indianapolis.’
HRC President Chad Griffin said, ‘Corporate America has long been a leader on LGBT equality, from advocating for marriage equality to expanding essential benefits to transgender employees.
‘But this year, many leading U.S. companies have broken new ground by expanding explicit non-discrimination protections to their LGBT workers around the globe. They’ve shown the world that LGBT equality isn’t an issue that stops at our own borders, but extends internationally.’
Top brands Nike, Intel, Adidas and PGE have been named top LGBT workplaces.
Adidas Group North America President Mark King said, ‘The No. 1 thing that makes a great company are great people.’
He went on to say, ‘We have a genuine care for our people and foster an environment of innovative thinking, collaboration and inclusivity to lead change for our industry. Sports are a platform for mutual respect and we use that same theme to create a workplace full of diverse and positive energy.’
Adidas, which sponsors many LGBT athletes, has promised ‘not to fire any endorser who comes out as gay, bisexual or transgender’. The athletes involved with the German-based brand include Nicola Adams, Keegan Hirst and Casey Stoney.
Adidas also sponsored the Team Pride: Levelling the LGBT Playing Field conference recently in London.
The love you take is equal to the love you make. pic.twitter.com/VMBRJUhHOb
— adidas (@adidas) February 14, 2016
They have a good track record.
Although, not all their Twitter followers were happy with their public declaration to support LGBT people:
https://twitter.com/antoniodelotero/status/699056229931470848
Equality laws and anti-discrimination protection in the workplace are, however, patchy across the various states. Many states still do not protect employees from discrimination in the workplace, despite the apparent willingness of businesses to support LGBT people.
Hopefully, politics and the law can catch up with public opinion.
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