When Values & Actions
Are Misaligned
There’s a flip side to this, of course, even in companies that work to have inclusive
cultures. Last year’s Target donation to a gubernatorial candidate
who was publicly homophobic is
still having repercussions. More
recently, several companies,
including AT&T (No. 4), KPMG,
Whirlpool, Pfizer and Comcast (one
of the DiversityInc’s 25 Noteworthy
Companies), were horrified to learn
their local representatives on the
Tennessee Chamber of Commerce
had approved a resolution supporting a state bill prohibiting local
governments from passing antidiscrimination ordinances. Although
the companies quickly issued
statements deploring the bill, it had
already passed the legislature and
had gone to the governor’s office,
where he signed it into law.
But right now another governor,
Andrew Cuomo, has proven to be a
staunch supporter of LGBT rights,
and the New York victory should
be savored by the 42,000 same-sex
couples in that state (source: U.S.
Census Bureau), their friends and
families.
It’s also a moment of victory for
corporations that understand that
having an inclusive culture isn’t
limited to what’s behind the doors
of their offices. What happens in
government and society deeply
impacts recruitment, engagement,
productivity and innovation.
I’ll be watching Chely Wright
and Lauren Blitzer get married this
summer, as well as reading about the
thousands of gay and lesbian couples
who will marry in New York. The
impact on the individual is immeasurable. Blitzer posted this on her
Facebook page right after the New
York decision was announced, and
I think it sums up what many LGBT
people feel when their companies
stand up for them: “This has always
been my residence. Now it really is
my home.” I
When Should
Your Company
Take a Stand
Against
LGBT Bias?
In the face of a groundswell of proposed state
laws discriminating against LGBT people, what
should inclusive companies do? BY BARBARA FRANKEL
he news that Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed into
law a bill prohibiting local governments from passing
anti-discriminatory measures offers a clear lesson to
inclusive corporations about when—and how—they
should get involved.
T
The new law, aimed squarely
at the LGBT community, is an
example of a groundswell in
several states from the religious
right to pass laws that endanger
human rights and discriminate
against this one group in particular. Several corporations, including three on the DiversityInc Top
50 and two on the DiversityInc
25 Noteworthy Companies lists,
got caught in the crossfire in
Tennessee. They were members
of the Tennessee Chamber of
Commerce that supported this
bill. The chamber rescinded that
support after DiversityInc and
the Human Rights Campaign
(HRC) asked the corporations
how they could support this.
Why did the chamber—and
the leading diversity companies among its corporate members, including AT&T, KPMG,
Whirlpool, Pfizer and Comcast—
approve this in the first place?
Some of the companies said their
local members voted against it.
One told DiversityInc that they
“didn’t realize” the anti-LGBT
focus of this legislation because it
was part of a larger document on
standardizing state regulations.
When they became aware of what
the legislation intended, all of
these companies and several others
issued public statements denouncing the legislation, leading to the
chamber reversing its position.
This case raises two critical
points for corporations with very
public values of inclusion. The
first is the need to be extremely
careful—especially at local levels—
that everything that is signed
off on by any representative of
the company coincides with the
organization’s stated values.
The second is publicly taking
the next step: actively fighting
this type of legislation in every
state. Anti-LGBT legislation is
surfacing in several states, and
no organization that calls itself
a diversity leader should allow
these bills to become laws.
