Exxon’s Anti-LGBT Policies Prompts Freedom to Work Campaign

Ahead of Next Week’s Board Meeting:- “Don’t Fuel Anti-LGBT Workplace Discrimination with U.S. Taxpayer Money”

By Melanie Nathan, May 22, 2012.

WASHINGTON, DC – Last night, Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work — a national organization working to ban workplace discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans — announced the launch of a new campaign and petition aimed at ExxonMobil’s discriminatory policies against LGBT employees.

Ahead of next week’s ExxonMobil board meeting, Ameida’s announcement on last night’s “Viewpoint with Elliot Spitzer” calls on Exxon leadership to adopt the “Golden Rule” by implementing LGBT nondiscrimination policies and equal benefits. The segment is available on the Current TV website, here. View Freedom to Work’s petition on Change.org, here.

 “Exxon is decades behind in adopting the American values of civil rights by refusing to ban LGBT workplace discrimination and denying equal benefits to gay and lesbian employees, even though Exxon receives lucrative federal contracts worth millions in U.S. taxpayer dollars every year” said Almeida. “Most major oil companies — Chevron, BP, Texaco — already have these policies in place. This is the right thing to do for business, and it’s the right thing to do morally.”

Thomas DiNapoli, New York State’s Comptroller, plans to bring a shareholder resolution to next week’s Exxon board meeting pushing the corporation to adopt policies that ensure its employees are not fired or harassed at work because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Almeida praised DiNapoli for his “strong leadership and advocacy for workplace fairness,” noting that the New York State Comptroller has recently persuaded companies such as Equifax and Dollar General to adopt similar LGBT fairness policies.

 “The good news is that our leaders are pushing forward. Many of our elected officials in the Senate and House of Representatives have joined LBGT advocacy organizations as we urge President Barack Obama to sign an executive order that would require federal contractors like Exxon to adopt LGBT nondiscrimination policies,” said Almeida. “If Exxon wants to continue profiting from taxpayer-funded contracts, we must pressure them to clean up their act and treat others as they would like to be treated — including LGBT employees and their families.”

Due to the corporation’s public anti-LGBT position, ExxonMobil is currently rated -25 on Human Rights Campaign’s annual “Corporate Equality Index,” a rating of LGBT policies and practices of large U.S. companies. Exxon is the first corporation ever to receive a negative score on the index.

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Freedom to Work is a national organization committed to banning workplace harassment and career discrimination against lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender Americans through public education, policy analysis and legal work. For more information on Freedom to Work, please visit: http://www.freedomtowork.org.