Symantec and Microsoft join American Airlines, General Mills, Google, Facebook, Nike, Apple, The Dow Chemical Company and Levi Strauss, & Co.in supporting the bill.
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The Equality Act would provide much-needed protections to combat the pervasive discrimination faced by LGBT people. We believe having a diversity of perspectives ensures we make better business decisions and the products and services we offer meet the needs of the broad spectrum of people we serve worldwide, which is why we couldn’t be more proud to support the Equality Act.
“We’ve made tremendous strides in the journey towards equality, but work still remains”, said Sen. The approach of updating these laws builds off of the successful model in the roughly 20 states that have passed LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination laws and ensures that LGBT Americans are treated equally.
Given the current political makeup of Congress, it is unlikely that the Act will become law. It is being sponsored by Democratic politicians David Cicilline (Rhode Island Rep.) in the House of Representatives and Jeff Merkley (Oregon Sen.) in the Senate.
“To create technology that empowers the world, we need to reflect the diversity of the world”, Microsoft said in a written statement. The introduction of the Act comes on the heels of the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published guidance stating that Title VII protects against discrimination based on sexual orientation and transgender status.
Despite how far we’ve come in securing fairness for LGBT people, the work for full equality for all Americans continues. At the very least, their support could play a huge part in safeguarding the safety and well-being of LGBT Americans.
The Human Rights Campaign is one advocacy group that has helped persuade corporations to speak out in favour of LGBT protections.
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Facebook, Nike, American Airlines and food giant General Mills have announced their support of proposed anti-discrimination legislation known as the Equality Act, reports TIME.
