It is no surprise that in this day in age, the LGBT community is growing and widely accepted. Recently, major companies such as Google, Microsoft, Coca Cola, AT&T, Proctor and Gamble and others have joined a new coalition to push for LGBT rights in the workplace, mainly in response to the setbacks for LGBT rights in several countries. This coalition aims to provide a platform to talk about LGBT workplace protections as well as providing companies with advice on how to implement LGBT policies where legal protections may not be applicable.

 

I personally think this is a fantastic idea for companies to be a part of this coalition. There are many positive business impacts of LGBT equality in the workplace. If companies identify themselves as LGBT inclusive, they will see an influx of LGBT workers who are proud to be working for their company, and genuinely want to work for them. In addition, they will see an increase in overall health of their workers as there will be less workplace related illnesses, a decrease in legal costs, and a decrease in health insurance costs. Workers will be less stressed, more relaxed, happy, exhibit better performance, therefore improving productivity, job satisfaction and relationships. A huge advantage for these companies is that this will create a more diverse and creative workforce. Take CEO of Apple Tim Cook for example, he recently spoke out about being gay in the workforce. If he had not felt comfortable working for Apple, Apple would have lost a very valuable key player. In other news,  Doritos has launched rainbow chips in support of the LGBT community, with all proceeds going to the It Gets Better Project. Due to the incredible amount of support Doritos has received, all bags of limited-edition Doritos Rainbows have been claimed, and they currently do not have anymore.

 

Overall, the decision for these companies to join this coalition does not only benefit themselves significantly, but also sends a very powerful signal to the whole generation, that this is the time for gender equality.

 

External Sources:

http://globalnews.ca/news/2247516/major-companies-form-group-to-push-for-lgbt-rights-globally/

http://www.glaad.org/blog/value-lgbt-equality-workplace