Letter from the HRC President Marking its ninth edition, the Corporate Equality Index 2011: Rating American Workplaces on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equality provides us with a chance to see what we have accomplished and to pinpoint the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. In nine years, the CEI has helped lead a sea-change in workplaces across the country. When we first began the CEI, 89 companies responded to our call to furnish their employment policies for LGBT employees and they were rated on seven basic criteria. This year, even with the struggling economy, 477 companies actively participated in the system that will rate them on more than 40 specific policies and practices covering nearly every aspect of employment for LGBT workers – from pension benefits to gender transition guidelines to supplier diversity. But we are not resting on our laurels. Far from it. HRC has primed the corporate community to enact sweeping new policies and programs to promote equality for LGBT people in the workplace. Next year a new set of standards will apply. These stan dards will seek to end benefits discrimination for transgender employees and dependents, provide full equal benefits for samesex partners and spouses and promote organizational competency on LGBT workplace issues that go beyond written policies. This year we also had an important Supreme Court ruling that removed restrictions on what corporations can spend on cer tain election activities. The Court’s decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission generated significant concern among progressive groups about the possibility that unchecked corporate influence in elections could tilt the outcomes toward more conservative causes and away from fair-minded ideals that include equality for the LGBT community. That concern was immediately realized in July when news broke about contributions from two historically LGBT-friendly compa nies, Target Corp. and Best Buy Co. Inc., to a group in Minnesota pushing for the election of a gubernatorial candidate who espoused virulently anti-LGBT viewpoints. HRC will continue to ask these companies to take corrective action. The situation also brought to light confusion in our own community about the purpose of the Corporate Equality Index. The CEI is not an award or overall “seal of approval.” It is an effective tool that is designed for a specific purpose: to improve workplace conditions for LGBT people by encouraging corporations to adopt pro-LGBT policies for their workforces. The CEI provides employers with clear standards that they must meet, creates competition (that had previously not existed) to expand LGBT-inclusive policies and progressively raises the bar, pushing corporations to earn their ratings with increased commitment to equality. Ultimately, the strength of this model made the trend toward equal workplaces snowball. There has been and will continue to be thoughtful discussion about how to harmonize our social justice mission with the practices of corporate America. Deciding not to transform the CEI into a tool for influencing companies’ political activities does not mean giving them a complete pass on campaign spending that negatively impacts the LGBT community. In the coming weeks and months, HRC will pursue other strategies to mitigate the negative effects of Citizens United. We will be working with our coalition partners, shareholder advocates and others in that endeavor. And as corporations themselves evaluate their roles in this new campaign finance landscape, HRC is well-positioned to be a part of that dialogue and to ensure that LGBT rights are front and center. HRC will exploit each opportunity to change LGBT workplace policies for the better that the CEI presents, one company at a time, even as we fight to pass laws to ensure that all LGBT people are protected equally, no matter where they work. Sincerely,
Joe Solmonese
Corporate Equality Index 2O11: Rating American Workplaces on LGBT Equality
www.hrc.org/cei
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