More Companies Supporting LGBTQ Employees
HRC Corporate Equality Index points to gains for queer workers this year
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
More businesses are
vowing to support
LGBTQ employees
than ever before.
Findings from the Human Rights
Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate
Equality Index (CEI), a measure
of LGBTQ workplace equality,
reveals 767 out of 1,142 businesses
surveyed received a top score
of 100 and are now designated as
the “Best Place to Work for LGBTQ
Equality.”
The report is the fi rst since the
Supreme Court ruled last year
that LGBTQ workers are protected
under Title VII of the 1964 Civil
Rights Act.
Last year, 686 workplaces received
this exact score, which is
a jump of nearly 12 percent. The
latest numbers show growing corporate
support for LGBTQ workers
and represent a whopping 13 million
workers nationwide and globally.
This year’s numbers mark a
big step toward improving the lives
of LGBTQ employees.
Alphonso David, the Human
Rights Campaign president, said
these changes occurred amid the
COVID-19 pandemic and during
the nation’s reckoning with racial
injustice.
“Yet, many businesses across
the nation stepped up and continued
to prioritize and champion
LGBTQ equality,” David said in a
written statement.”The progress
made since the CEI’s inception is
truly astounding and proves these
initiatives have a deep impact on
the day-to-day lives of LGBTQ
workers.”
According to the report, more
businesses are prioritizing LGBTQ
people in almost every area of the
workplace, including explicit protections
in workplace manuals, domestic
partner benefi ts, workplace
diversity training, and culture, as
well as vowing to support LGBTQ
legislation and policies.
Ninety-four percent of Fortune
500 companies and 99.7 percent
of all businesses considered in this
report include gender identity in
An activist stands up for queer workers outside of the Supreme Court in October of 2019 as the court
heard arguments in LGBTQ employment cases.
their non-discrimination policies.
About 0.3 percent of businesses do
not provide these protections, the
report shows. Sexual orientation
is clearly protected in 458 Fortune
500 companies; 448 include gender
identity. The report notes that
893 companies provide benefi ts for
same and different gender spouses
and partners.
Additionally, the report found a
growing number of businesses are
providing healthcare benefi ts for
transgender employees. Seventyone
percent of Fortune 500 companies
and 91 percent of all CEI-rated
businesses offer trans-inclusive
health insurance coverage. This
was a stark difference from 2002
when no companies provided gender
affi rming coverage to trans
employees.
“Many employers have begun to
address health insurance coverage
for transgender individuals comprehensively,
and most have experienced
insignifi cant or no premium
increases as a result,” the
report noted.
However, just over half of the
companies surveyed have implemented
transition guidelines to
support trans employees. Employers
often support newly out trans
workers by including gender-inclusive
restrooms, removing discriminatory
dress codes, and updating
worker documents or IDs.
Plus, employers are standing up
for LGBTQ rights outside of work.
More than 300 companies support
the Equality Act, a federal bill
amending Title VII of the 1964 Civil
REUTERS/JONATHAN ERNST
Rights Act to ban discrimination
against LGBTQ people in housing,
employment, healthcare, education,
and other areas of public life.
To calculate the fi ndings, researchers
compiled the businesses’
non-discrimination guidelines and
examined workplace culture. Benefi
ts that were evaluated included
BUSINESS
LGBTQ workers and their families,
as well as their corporate support
of LGBTQ policies.
While these statistics highlight
progress for LGBTQ workers, it
does not provide a full picture of
the workplace conditions impacting
queer and trans people. Lowerincome
LGBTQ people and those
employed as sex workers face signifi
cant barriers and disparities
compared to others.
The group suggests these fi ndings
illustrate just a small part of
LGBTQ workplace inclusion.
“Diversity and inclusion policies
and practices advanced through
tools like the CEI are critical,
but meaningful change requires
breathing life into these policies
in real and tangible ways, so that
LGBTQ employees are truly seen,
valued, and respected not only at
work, but in every aspect of life,”
David said.
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