The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees List

As the school year winds down and job searches pick up, are you wondering which companies are America's most LGBT friendly. Diversity Inc. just published their own list of the 10 ten best employers for LGBT Americans:

What makes a company the right place for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender employees--and their friends and families--to work? To determine this list, we looked at several factors, including inclusive benefits for same-sex partners of employees, strong diversity training programs, recruitment efforts aimed at LGBT people and the vitality of the company's LGBT employee-resource group.

Since the workplace demographic data on LGBT employees is inconclusive (most companies don't ask about orientation, and even those that do believe a certain segment is uncomfortable coming out), we also include ratings from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)'s Corporate Equality Index (CEI), which measures workplace rights for LGBT individuals. No company can be on our Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees list that doesn't receive a 100 percent CEI rating. Interestingly, 74 percent of The 2009 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity® received a 100 percent CEI rating this year, compared with 52 percent in 2006 and 28 percent in 2004.

We also examined the company's web site to assess its visible commitment to the LGBT community, as well as its relationships with external organizations such as the HRC and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). And we gave companies extra points for marketing to the LGBT community and for use with LGBT suppliers certified by the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

Here are the top 10 and a reason why each of them made the list:

No. 1: Ernst & Young, No. 3 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 2 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities

The Big Four firm has a strong employee network for LGBT employees called Beyond Professional Resource Network. E&Y spends 0.5 percent of its total procurement budget with certified LGBT contractors. The company's nondiscrimination policy includes gender identity.

No. 2: Wells Fargo & Co., No. 31 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 8 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Recruitment & Retention; No. 10 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Latinos; and No. 2 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Asian Americans

Well known for its efforts to reach out to LGBT customers, the San Francisco-based bank offers its LGBT employees and their partners benefits equal to those of heterosexual partners. Its diversity training includes sexual orientation and gender-identity components.

No. 3: PricewaterhouseCoopers, No. 5 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 1 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Global Diversity Companies

The firm's commitment to its LGBT employees is clear in its collateral material and on its web site, where its inclusive policies are emphasized. It has a strong LGBT resource group, called GLBT Mentoring Circles.

No. 4: IBM Corp., No. 10 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 1 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities; No. 2 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Supplier Diversity; No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Asian Americans; and No. 2 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Global Diversity Companies

IBM has strong ties to the LGBT community, as demonstrated by its philanthropy to such groups as International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, International Lesbian and Gay Association, Out for Work, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Gay Men's Health Crisis and others.

No. 5: Aetna, No. 48 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 7 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities

Aetna's president, Mark Bertolini, is a strong advocate for the company's LGBT employees and received an Out & Equal Champions Award in 2007. The company has very strong benefits for its LGBT employees and their partners, as well as an excellent LGBT employee-resource group.

No. 6: KPMG, No. 21 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 10 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities

The Big Four accounting firm, which is being honored this year at GLSEN's Respect Awards for its commitment to LGBT equality, has a strong employee-resource group for LGBT workers and has excellent benefits for LGBT employees and their partners, including coverage for transgender treatment.

No. 7: Sodexo, No. 6 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Recruitment & Retention; No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for African Americans; No. 2 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Latinos; No. 1 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Executive Women; and No. 9 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities

The company has excellent benefits for LGBT employees and their partners, including bereavement leave, relocation assistance and retiree healthcare benefits. It also has mandatory diversity training for managers, including sexual orientation and gender identity.

No. 8: AT&T, No. 2 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 7 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Recruitment & Retention and No. 1 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for African Americans

The company has a strong employee-resource group for LGBT employees, called LEAGUE -- Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered United Employees at AT&T. The company has strong benefits for LGBT employees, including adoption assistance.

No. 9: Cisco Systems, one of DiversityInc's 25 Noteworthy Companies. Also No. 3 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for People With Disabilities and No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Global Diversity Companies

Cisco is a supporter of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act of 2007, has excellent benefits for LGBT employees and their partners, and has been a strong supporter of LGBT nonprofits.

No. 10: Johnson & Johnson, No. 1 in the DiversityInc Top 50. Also No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Recruitment & Retention; No. 5 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Asian Americans; and No. 2 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Executive Women

The company has strong diversity training that includes orientation and gender identity as well as first-rate benefits for LGBT employees and their partners.

Coalition urges swift passage of hate crimes bill

The momentum around pro-LGBT legislation is truly staggering. The hate crimes legislation is up for debate in the House and there is a broad coalition supporting it. 365gay is reporting:

(Washington) The US House is expected to vote this week on legislation to add sexual orientation to the list of categories covered under federal hate crime law.

The bill was marked up last week by the House Judiciary Committee.

A wide coalition of national civil rights, human rights, and faith communities is calling for swift approval of the bill. Among the groups is the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights.

“Violence against people because of who they are, where they worship, or the color of their skin, is the antithesis of what we stand for as a nation. Hatred that leads to violence is a matter of fundamental concern to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and its 200-member coalition and we are unified in our support of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act,” said Wade Henderson, president of the LCCR.

“The right to be protected and to be safe and free from physical harm or intimidation is the most fundamental of civil and human rights. We urge Congress to quickly pass the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, legislation that will enhance protections against hate crimes and give local police departments the resources they need to crack down on hate motivated violence,” said Benjamin Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP.

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Judy Shepard Video as Congress Takes up Hate Crimes Legislation

WASHINGTON – The Human Rights Campaign – the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization – released a video today as part of the effort to pass the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA) featuring Judy Shepard whose son Matthew was murdered in 1998 because he was gay.

“It’s been ten years since Judy Shepard lost her son Matthew and this video is a painful reminder that the federal government does not have the resources it needs to assist in prosecuting these horrific acts,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “Since Matthew’s murder, tens of thousands of Americans have been victims of hate violence and it’s time to give local law enforcement the tools to combat this scourge.”

Tomorrow, the House Judiciary Committee will mark up the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act (LLEHCPA), also known as the Matthew Shepard Act. The bill would give the Justice Department the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence by providing the department with jurisdiction over crimes of violence where the victim is chosen because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

The video profiles the stories of hate crimes victims who were targeted because of who they are. They include:

· Angie Zapata who on a summer night in Greeley, Colorado, was bludgeoned to death with a fire extinguisher because she was transgender.

· Billy Ray Johnson a mentally disabled man from Texas who was taken to a party, ridiculed, knocked unconscious, and then dumped by the side of the road.

· Luis Ramirez who while walking home to his family in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, was beaten him to death by a group of young men yelling racial and ethnic epithets.

· Ryan Skipper of Eloise, Florida, who was robbed, driven to a dirt road and stabbed more than twenty times because he was gay.

· Sean Kennedy, a South Carolina man who died after he was assaulted by a man yelling anti-gay slurs. The state has no hate crime law and his attacker was sentenced to three years in prison.

Would middle school GSAs help curb anti-gay bullying?

As we work to secure LGBT student orgs on the college level, the discussion is being had in the middle school arena. In Boston, MA three youth panelists testified to the importance of GSAs and other LGBT youth support groups during their high school years. The Edge reports:

During an April 14 legislative briefing by the Massachusetts Commission on GLBT Youth, commissioners, lawmakers and young people debated whether middle schools would be the next frontier for the gay/straight alliance (GSA) movement. Three youth panelists testified to the importance of GSAs and other LGBT youth support groups during their high school years, but commission vice-chair Eleni Carr pointed out that research suggests students are now coming out at much younger ages. The briefing took place in the House Member’s Lounge inside the State House.

"Today the average age is actually 13.4, which is middle school. ... I’m wondering if there are any thoughts here on the panel or in the room of the appropriateness and possibilities that might exist in gay/straight alliances in middle schools," said Carr.

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