At Last
We Still Have Work to Do
Last night was the first time a U.S. President has included the words “lesbian”, “bisexual”, and “transgender” in a State of the Union address. It was a historic nod to LGBT equality as a matter of civil rights, including opposing persecution of the LGBT community being as fundamental to American values as free speech and religious freedom. However, while at last recognized for our shared humanity, a critical issue not mentioned in the address, which did touch upon workplace policies, was protection for the LGBT community when it comes to employment non-discrimination.
It has now been nearly two and a half years since Susan McPherson and I published our first Harvard Business Review piece regarding the business case for LGBT equality. Beginning with 2012 victories for LGBT equality in Maryland, Washington, Maine, and Minnesota, and then accelerated by the July 2013 Supreme Court DOMA ruling, there has been a cascade of legal victories that have transformed the national landscape regarding marriage equality. With same-sex marriage now legal in the majority of U.S. states, and the recent Supreme Court announcement that they will take up a case with implications for nation-wide marriage equality, the momentum in support of LGBT equality has been palpable. Apple CEO Tim Cook’s coming out was, for the most part, warmly received, and LGBT rights have even made the formal agenda at this week’s World Economic Forum.
At the end of 2014, I parted ways with the company that had been my professional home for the past six years. By shifting its headquarters from Maryland to North Carolina, while the decision was rooted in business incentives and strategic reasoning, the unintended consequence was the choice with which I was confronted as the only out LGBT member of management: Move my family to a state where we would not have civil rights and legal protections, or leave. I ultimately chose the latter. The week before I left, in a bittersweet exchange with one of our executives, she shared with me that she had surfaced the underlying reason for my departure at the local Chamber of Commerce board meeting. She had made the argument that the state’s policies have business consequences, and I was pleased to learn that others in the room had shared her point of view.
91% of Fortune 500 companies already prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, 61% already prohibit discrimination based on gender identity, and last summer, President Obama signed Executive Order 11246, adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the list of protected categories on the basis of which federal contractors may not discriminate. Yet, despite this progress, in the majority of U.S. states, it remains legal to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation (29 states) and/or gender identity (32 states).
The journey toward LGBT equality and inclusion is one that must continue well beyond what equality-minded advocates hope will be a decisive ruling in support of marriage equality from the Supreme Court in June. As the conversation and reality regarding employment non-discrimination protection for the LGBT community continues to evolve, companies have an important role to play in aligning their public policy advocacy with the policies that frame their internal values regarding diversity and inclusion. And even then — even when LGBT workplace non-discrimination is the law of the land, we still will not yet have arrived at the finish line. As Symantec Chief Diversity Officer, Cecily Joseph aptly pointed out in her recent Huffington Post article on corporate diversity and inclusion, real progress is about culture.
The past few years have witnessed unprecented progress regarding public attitudes toward and public policies supporting LGBT equality. But as we celebrate the legal victories that reflect our progress, corporate and community leaders must reinforce equality and inclusion within and beyond their organizations.
We still have work to do.
