NEW YORK — Responding to a rising tide of legislative and administrative attempts to further marginalize transgender, gender non-conforming and intersex people — including a recent report by the New York Times on administrative efforts to erase transgender non-discrimination protections through reinterpretation of existing law — 56 major companies today issued a business statement in support of transgender equality.
The statement also comes at a time of heightened violence against marginalized people, including the communities affected by the political violence of last week, the massacre at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, the hate crimes in Louisville based on race, and the attempted serial bombing campaign against prominent political leaders and news media organizations.
Noting that diversity and inclusion are good for business, and that discrimination significantly harms transgender people and imposes enormous productivity costs, the statement calls for respect and transparency in policy-making, and for full equality under the law. The full text of the statement is included below.
The companies signing the statement as part of its launch represent nearly 4.8 million employees, have a collective annual revenue of more than $2.4 trillion, and are drawn from a broad range of industries including financial services, consumer products, and technology. Additional corporate signatories are expected to join the letter in the coming days.
“Equality is not a right for some, but for all. Executive actions and laws that allow discrimination erode our ability to foster vibrant, competitive workforces, which halts growth, creativity, and innovation,” said Elizabeth Wood, Chief Human Resources Officer, Levi Strauss & Co. “Our workplaces and communities must be diverse and welcoming for all people, regardless of race, sex, national origin, ethnicity, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation or gender identity.” —
“Treating all people fairly, equally and with respect is the very core of IBM’s values. We believe no one should be discriminated against for being who they are,” said Tia Silas, Global Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer at IBM. “That’s why we’re proud to stand in support of the transgender and entire LGBT+ communities, and it’s why we will continue advocating for Congress to pass the Equality Act and ensure transgender individuals are treated equally under the law.”
14 LGBTQ+ community organizations, led by Out Leadership and the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), organized the effort to secure corporate signatories. The coalition also included: Athlete Ally, Freedom for All Americans, GLAAD, GLSEN, Lambda Legal, National Center for Transgender Equality, National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, National LGBTQ Task Force, Out & Equal, PFLAG National, The Trevor Project, Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF).
“We’re proud that the business community is raising its voice to defend some of the most vulnerable members of our society and helping to fill the leadership vacuum created by the federal government,” said Todd Sears, Founder and Principal, Out Leadership.
The full list of companies signing the letter are:
- Accenture
- Adobe Systems Inc.
- Airbnb
- Altria Group
- Amalgamated Bank
- Amazon
- American Airlines
- Apple
- Automatic Data Processing Inc. (ADP)
- Bank of America
- Ben & Jerry’s Homemade
- BNY Mellon
- Cargill
- Cisco Systems Inc.
- Citi
- Clifford Chance
- Corning Incorporated
- Corteva Agriscience™, the Agriculture Division of DowDuPont
- Deutsche Bank
- I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
- Fastly, Inc.
- Hogan Lovells International LLP
- HSBC
- IBM Corporation
- Intel Corporation
- Intuit Inc.
- Iron Mountain
- JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- Levi Strauss & Co.
- Lush Handmade Cosmetics
- Lyft
- Marriott International
- MassMutual
- MGM Resorts International
- Microsoft Corp.
- Nike Inc.
- PepsiCo
- Replacements, Ltd.
- Ropes & Gray
- Royal Bank of Canada
- S&P Global
- Salesforce
- Sheppard Mullin
- Sodexo Inc.
- Splunk
- State Street Corporation
- The Coca-Cola Company
- The Dow Chemical Company
- TiVo Corporation
- Trillium Asset Management
- Twitter Inc.
- Uber
- Warby Parker
Press release from Out Leadership