Google has been awarded the Workplace
Excellence Award at the 14th annual Out & Equal
Workplace Summit held in Baltimore, Maryland.
The 4-day event, which ended Thursday,
was sponsored by more than 118 companies and organizations, and
attracted more than 1,400 attendees from around the world.
The award recognizes an “employer
that has an ongoing commitment to workplace equality, demonstrated by
unquestioned leadership, dedication and innovation on behalf of LGBT
employees everywhere,” the group said in a release.
“Google is a leader in establishing
innovative policies that protect and affirm LGBT people in the
workplace. From providing transgender sensitivity training to
employees, to establishing some of the very best benefits for
transgender people in the world, Google has rightly earned its 100%
Corporate Equality Index rating. Recently, Google worked in
conjunction with the It Gets Better Project to create a national
advertising campaign, profiling how the It Gets Better project has
helped thousands share their own stories on YouTube, forever
impacting the lives of at-risk LGBT youth. Externally, the company
has been a leader in empowering non-profit organizations to drive
change in the broader community and has publicly supported expanding
LGBT rights at the federal level, including filing amicus briefs to
overturn the federal Defense of Marriage Act.”
Two individuals were recognized for
their workplace contributions: Lance Fredman of Lockheed Martin and
Harry van Dorenmalen of IBM Europe.
OutServe, the U.S. military group which
represents LGBT troops, won the Employee Group of the Year Award.
(Related: Allyson
Robinson, transgender woman, to head military group.)