Welcoming LGBT in workplace is good for businesses in Texas
What do the NFL, Alicia Keys and 82 percent of Fortune 500 companies have in common? They oppose policies that single out transgender people for exclusion from everyday activities. We predict we’ll be seeing even more business leaders speaking out against Senate Bill 6, which targets transgender people with a hurtful bathroom ban.
The Lone Star State recently joined the ignominious ranks of Indiana, Georgia and North Carolina in proposing or enshrining discrimination into law. This intrusive legislation could force businesses to monitor the gender of everyone who uses the restroom and could force customers and employees to have to prove their gender just to use the restroom. It would put small businesses at risk of government fines, frivolous lawsuits, angry customers and more. There is no good way to enforce these laws without invading everyone’s privacy.
As in other states, business leaders are again an important voice speaking out against policies that hurt transgender people and threaten local businesses.
Texas is known as a warm and welcoming state with a business-friendly climate that draws talented employees, investment and job creation from around the globe. Business leaders know that embracing LGBT employees means being able to recruit and retain top talent. When business leaders have already made their companies welcoming to LGBT people, they don’t want to see that progress undermined by a state that projects hostility to those communities.
Moreover, SB 6 has been decried by business leaders in the state as a disaster that would decrease travel and tourism and jeopardize jobs. It’s been estimated that SB 6 could cost Texas $8.5 billion and 185,000 jobs.
It’s no surprise to me that business leaders are speaking out. For 20 years, businesses nationwide have led the way in welcoming LGBT employees and creating workplaces where all LGBT people can thrive. Many business leaders forcefully spoke out when states like Indiana, Georgia, North Carolina and now Texas threatened to impose drastic discriminatory policies towards LGBT people.
Fortune 500 companies have outpaced federal legislation in welcoming LGBT employees and instituting nondiscrimination policies. They know these policies are good for business and good for their employees.
For two decades, I’ve worked with business leaders who understand that being out at work and welcomed by your boss and co-workers is good for employee morale and the bottom line. As any CEO can tell you, employees who feel comfortable and welcome at work are more likely to succeed in their careers and contribute to their team, company or organization.
When companies fail to protect their LGBT employees against discrimination in the workplace, the consequences can be serious. Imagine what it would be like to go to work every day and hide who you are. Imagine not being able to put family photos on your desk, changing pronouns when you talk about your weekend, or living with the constant fear that you can’t go about your daily life like other people.
There are consequences to the bottom line as well. When LGBT employees don’t feel comfortable and welcome, they are not able to fully participate and thrive in their careers. When a company discriminates in hiring, retention or promotion, they sacrifice getting the best person for the job in favor of pointless discrimination.
As CEO of an organization that works with Fortune 1000 companies and their LGBT employees every day, I have deep concerns about any policy that would allow people to harm, exclude or target others just because of who they are — whether in the boardroom or the bathroom.
Welcoming LGBT employees into the workforce is one of the great business success stories of the last 20 years. We can’t let that progress be undermined by laws that make it impossible for people to go about their daily lives.
Welcoming people of all identities and backgrounds into our companies and into our states is good for workers, business and our economy. Our country is stronger when we treat all people equally under the law.
I guess all of the good lawyers in the Legislature have forgotten the Fourth Amendment, which states: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”
In addition, a writ of habeas corpus can and should obtain the release of anyone who has been released on bail.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement has taken the positive action of obtaining warrants, and Sheriff Sally Hernandez has held those individuals, that being the law.
Re: Feb. 9 article, “Trump looks to stabilize health insurance market”
Re: Feb. 7 article, “Remarks on Russia shake some in GOP.”
So President Donald Trump makes a comment — “our country’s so innocent?” — when responding to a Fox News interview regarding Russia’s Putin.
And every single network, pundit and person looking for anything to try to denigrate Trump with is literally beside themselves in righteous condemnation of such a comment.
My response is Gulf of Tonkin, Aug. 2, 1964. Vietnam. Over 58,000 Americans dead. Bay of Pigs, April 17, 1961. Over 1,000 Cuban freedom fighters betrayed by the Kennedy administration. Benghazi, Libya. April 11, 2012. Americans under attack abandoned and left to die. American innocence? Tell that to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country while the Washington aristocracy lied to cover their betrayal of patriots. While Trump’s choice of words may not always be the best, he is a patriot looking out for the best interest of American citizens first and foremost.