My Year Violating NC’s HB2 as an LGBTQ Workplace Advocate
At the Human Rights Campaign Foundation my role is to provide consulting, training and educational support to America’s leading companies on how to make their workplaces more welcoming to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) employees. In that capacity, I spent a considerable part of this year flying around the country speaking to leading companies about LGBTQ workplace inclusion. My work is incredible: I watch companies support their LGBTQ workers as they come out as gay or lesbian or bi, as they transition gender on-the-job, or as they disclose they have LGBTQ kids. It’s great.
Unfortunately, however, this past year, we experienced an unprecedented wave of anti-LGBTQ bills across the country — from South Dakota and Mississippi, to Georgia and North Carolina. It just so happens that my major hub airport is in Charlotte, North Carolina — the state where lawmakers passed the discriminatory bill known as HB 2 earlier this year. I also happen to be a transgender man, so thanks to HB 2, every time I flew through Charlotte and used the men’s room at the airport, I was violating state law.
I wasn’t afraid really — I have a lot of privilege: I “pass,” I’m white, I’m usually professionally dressed for my business travel — but I was always reminded that there is a group of people so afraid of me and of who I am that they had to pass a law about what is ultimately a private matter and a non-issue. Every time I flew through Charlotte, I was also reminded of the thousands of transgender people for whom HB 2 is a reality every day at their offices, in their schools, and in the state they call home. But even as someone just passing through, I felt “othered” and undermined as the person I am.
All of this to say, my experience of repeatedly flying through HB2 territory while on my way to work with pro-Equality champions in the private sector certainly created an interesting contrast. Every time I had to experience even a momentary hesitation before entering the men’s room at the Charlotte airport, I was bolstered by the knowledge that increasingly LGBTQ inclusion is a key business imperative for our country’s largest and most successful employers.
I work with HRC Foundation’s Workplace Equality program which produces the annual Corporate Equality Index, a national survey and report benchmarking the LGBT-inclusive policies, practices and benefits of America’s largest companies and law firms. Just two weeks ago, for the fifteenth time since 2002, HRC released its 2017 CEI report where we have seen the largest increase in top-rated businesses in the history of the survey. 517 employers earned a perfect 100 score and the designation of “Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality” up from 411 just last year. In addition, this year saw the CEI’s largest jump ever in businesses offering transgender-inclusive healthcare coverage — from 511 last year to 647 this year.
You see, these businesses know that LGBTQ equality isn’t just the right thing to do, they know it makes them stronger in the global economy. In an industry as competitive as tech, companies know that to attract, retain and engage the very best workers they must create environments welcoming across the broad spectrum of diversity, including LGBTQ folks. A perfect score on the CEI reflects a company’s commitment to LGBT inclusion — from non-discrimination protections, to equitable and inclusive benefits, to internal competency and external engagement efforts. The index acts as a robust yardstick for measuring the progress of corporate America as ‘employers of choice’ for LGBTQ people.
The 2017 CEI report shows us that, in a climate where state lawmakers are looking to block and even roll-back the historic progress of our community, corporate America not only stood by their commitment to LGBTQ equality — they accelerated it. In addition to the growth in the CEI, companies weighed in on LGBTQ-related public policy like NC’s HB2 and MS’s HB1523. They know these discriminatory bills affect the lives of their employees, their employees’ families and their customers. Over 200 company executives — including many from tech leaders such as Apple, Google, Microsoft and Symantec — joined HRC’s open letter calling for the repeal of North Carolina’s HB 2 — and business leaders spoke out in other states as well — from Mississippi, to Missouri, to Tennessee.
Unfortunately, we expect to see more anti-LGBTQ legislation in the coming 2017 state legislative sessions. HB2 still needs to be fully repealed (something that the new Governor Roy Cooper has pledged to support). For my part, you’ll find me packing a bag and flying through Charlotte on my way to work with the corporate leaders of LGBTQ inclusion. Together, we’ll be on the frontlines, beating back discriminatry legislation and fighting for LGBTQ equality.
