WASHINGTON – Over 100 technology leaders – including titans of the industry such as Yahoo!’s Marissa Mayer, Google’s Eric Schmidt and Larry Page, Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg & Sheryl Sandberg – have joined in an unprecedented statement calling on legislators around the country to immediately pass non-discrimination laws that protect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans.
Launched last week in conjunction with the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) in response to a host of anti-LGBT bills pending or signed into law in various states, technology leaders from coast to coast continue to sign on with their support in this historic call to action.
“The unified message from these business leaders is clear: Pass LGBT non-discrimination protections and pass them now,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “Until legislators finally step up to the plate and take action, this issue is not going to go away. It’s time for elected officials to listen to the overwhelming voice of fair-minded Americans demanding equality for their LGBT loved ones, friends, and neighbors. No American should risk losing their job, be denied housing, or be refused service simply because of who they are or whom they love.”
Dramatically amplifying this call to action by technology leaders, major corporations – such as Apple, American Airlines, Microsoft, PepsiCo and many others – have signed on to a campaign organized by HRC called “Equality is Our Business,”calling on lawmakers to stop the attacks on LGBT Americans.
Dozens of major American corporations have also gone on the record publicly expressing their support for LGBT equality by condemning anti-LGBT bills, including: American Airlines; Apple; Coca-Cola; Gap Inc; Google; Home Depot; Levi Strauss & Co; Marriott; Microsoft; NASCAR; NCAA; Nike; Orbitz Worldwide; Subaru; Twitter; Wal-Mart;Wells Fargo; and many more.
The American public is with LGBT Americans. A recent national survey conducted by GQRR for the Human Rights Campaign found that likely voters support a federal non-discrimination law by an overwhelming margin: 69% to 27%, support that exceeds even marriage equality and crosses partisan and demographic lines. According to the survey, voters across party lines overwhelmingly approved of a non-discrimination law. Republicans supported it 51% to 43%, Independents supported it 72% to 23% and democrats supported it 80% to 18%. Read more about the survey here.
The unprecedented and historic corporate support garnered for LGBT equality has truly begun to shine a bright spotlight on the need for LGBT non-discrimination protections. While tremendous focus has been placed on stopping anti-LGBT bills pending in state legislatures around the country, these corporations and technology leaders are unified in shifting the focus towards adding comprehensive non-discrimination protections for LGBT people around the country.
The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. HRC envisions a world where LGBT people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.
