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View from Washington: LGBT consumer power

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The Trump administration has declared war on the LGBT community. Employers would be wise not to follow the administration’s lead, given that they could be alienating a consumer base with significant buying power.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was making great strides on protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in the employment sector under the Obama administration, taking the position that Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act protects workers against sexual orientation discrimination and rigorously defending that position in the courts. But the commission’s valiant efforts are now being undercut in at least one major case by a fellow agency: the U.S. Department of Justice.

The department filed court papers last month in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York arguing that Title VII does not cover workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. The department’s amicus brief was filed in an appeal of a case called Zarda v. Altitude Express in which a skydiver alleged he was discriminated against by his former employer after he disclosed that he was gay.

Major employers are firmly pushing back against the department’s position. Firms such as Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., CBS Corp. and Viacom Inc. urged the court to rule that Title VII offers protections to gay employees. The companies rightly noted that bias against gay employees is widespread, citing the more than 40% of gay workers reporting harassment and other forms of discrimination in various studies.

It makes good business sense for employers to resist the Trump administration’s position. A June survey by advertising agency Ogilvy & Mather revealed that nearly 65% of Americans believe that LGBT-inclusive brands or businesses are good for the economy.

A 2016 report by Accenture Consulting noted that LGBT buying power is rising quickly and that growth could exceed $1 trillion by 2020.

News of the department’s amicus brief came the same week of the Twitter-happy president’s announcement via social media that transgender people would be banned from serving in the military — a decision that reportedly blindsided top military officials.

President Donald Trump tweeted: “Our military must be focused on decisive and overwhelming victory and cannot be burdened with the tremendous medical costs and disruption that transgender in the military would entail.” But this wasn’t about medical costs or disruption. His decision was clearly aimed at appeasing his socially conservative base.

Some legislators in North Carolina and Texas are no better, passing or considering so-called “bathroom bills” to address a nonexistent threat to children by requiring transgender people to use bathrooms in public facilities corresponding with their sex at birth. Corporations and organizations are using their economic muscle to resist these obviously discriminatory actions. North Carolina’s law is estimated to cost the state at least $3.7 billion by 2028, a number that should encourage legislators to focus more on creating jobs and helping their constituents achieve a decent standard of living.

I honestly don’t believe I will ever understand why some people feel so threatened by members of the LGBT community that they advocate to enact and enforce laws to restrict their human rights, but it’s critical for employers to use their collective might to push back.

 

 

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