Anti gay companies 2015
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The tradition of Pride Month began in 1970 with a series of marches to commemorate the Stonewall Riots, when LGBTQ patrons of the Stonewall Inn fought advocate against harassment and brutality by the police. Before Stonewall, marches by lgbtq+ and lesbian activists were quiet, with participants dressed in formal attire. After Stonewall, the protests would be loud, with no dress code.
The spread of Pride marches throughout the country galvanized the LGBTQ movement.
As the fight for LGBTQ rights became more mainstream, corporations have latched onto Movement Month as a way of courting the LGBTQ community, an important origin of customers and skilled employees.
But do these corporations really support the LGBTQ movement? Popular Data has identified nine rainbow flag-waving corporations that gave $1 million or more to anti-gay politicians in the last election cycle.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the most prominent organization dedicated to LGBTQ rights, produces a "Corporate Equality Index." I
Walmart, McDonald's, and Amazon are among companies celebrating Identity festival after donating hundreds of thousands of dollars to politicians who voted against the Equality Act
As brands take to Twitter to celebrate Pride, many of the same companies donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to politicians who voted against expanded LGBTQ protections.
In February, the wide-ranging majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives voted against the Equality Act, which aims to expand LGBTQ protections. SEC filings show that some of the best-known companies in the US, including McDonald's, Walmart, and Amazon, have donated significant sums to politicians who voted against the bill.
Most major companies donate to both parties via political activity committees, historically giving more to Republicans. (Industry PACs supported by these organizations also donate to both parties, but tend to skew even further right.) In recent years, many companies' PACs — including Walmart, Amazon, and McDonald's — have moved toward a 50/50 split between Democrat and Republican donations.
Companies donate to politicians' campaigns hoping to influence lawmakers on legislation that might impa
Google joins chorus of companies backing LGBT bill
The online search giant on Tuesday joined the likes of Facebook (FB), General Mills (GIS), and Nike (NKE) in publicly backing the Equality Act, a landmark anti-discrimination bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last week. The Equality Act seeks to expand existing civil rights protections against racial and gender-based discrimination in the workplace and other common spheres to include safeguards against sexual orientation and gender identity.
“Diverse perspectives, ideas, and cultures guide to the creation of better products and services and ideas,” a Google (GOOG) spokeswoman told Fortune in an e-mail Tuesday. “And it’s the right thing to do. That’s why we support protections for LGBT Americans as outlined in the Equality Act.”
Other companies to announce support for the bill include Apple (AAPL), American Airlines (AAL), the Dow Chemical Company (DOW), and Levi Strauss.
Fortune reached out to a handful of other large U.S. companies on Tuesday to ask about their respective stances on the Equality Act. An IBM (IBM) spokesman said the corporation is still reviewing the proposed legislation. “IBM has a long
Same-sex marriage: How Walmart became one of the biggest corporate supporters
In addition to pioneering the next generation of fashionable cell phones and innovative MP3 players, Apple (AAPL) has been an avid supporter of issues affecting its LGBT employees. Having extended benefits to homosexual couple decades ago, the company’s CEO Tim Cook recently identified himself as the first openly gay chief officer of a Fortune 500 company.
The Human Rights Campaign has consistently ranked Coca-Cola (KO) one of the top places to perform for LGBT employees. And, seven of the top 10 Fortune 500 companies, including ExxonMobil (XOM) and Walmart (WMT), currently provide health benefits to queer spouses of their employees.
But companies like Target (TGT) and Walmart are not only doing; they are speaking. Walmart, having earned the coveted No. 1 spot on the Fortune 500 list, has been an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights, especially in its home state of Arkansas.
Indeed, over the past scant years, as the judiciary struck down bans on queer marriage and municipalities adopted LGBT-protective anti-discrimination laws, conservative states pushed back with the adoption of robust religi
Gay marriage: Australia's businesses take out full-page ad backing lgbtq+ partnerships
Some of Australia's biggest businesses possess thrown their weight behind the shove for gay marriage, with a full-page newspaper advertisement today.
Corporations including Google, Qantas, Optus and the ANZ and Commonwealth banks have lay their names to a list of Australian businesses backing marriage equality.
Others supporters include law firms Slater and Gordon and Gilbert and Tobin, and the Football Federation of Australia.
Australian Marriage Equality national director Rodney Croome said the corporations approached the organisation send the message that Australia's business community was behind marriage equality.
"It was about corporate saying it's not just about us individually supporting this, we want to do it collectively and send the strongest possible message," Mr Croome said.
He said corporations understood the importance of respect for diversity in the workplace and equality for staff and customers.
"They're also very sensitive of course to Australia's international reputation ... that is at risk of suffering if we don't catch