Google, Facebook and Nike are among the
companies that have endorsed a bill that seeks to ban anti-LGBT
discrimination in all areas of civil rights.
If approved, the bill, titled the
Equality Act, would prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in seven key
areas, including credit, education, employment, federal funding,
housing, jury service and public accommodations, by effectively
expanding the Civil Rights Act, originally approved in 1964.
American Airlines, General Mills,
Google, Facebook and Nike have joined Apple, The Dow Chemical Company
and Levi Strauss, & Co. in supporting the bill.
“Ensuring fairness in our workplace
and communities is both the right hing to do and simply good
business,” American Airlines said in a statement provided to the
Human
Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT rights advocate.
“[T]he time has come in this country
for full, federal equality for the LGBT community,” General Mills
said.
Google added: “Diverse perspectives,
ideas, and cultures lead to the creation of better products and
services and ideas. And it's the right thing to do. That's why we
support protections for LGBT individuals as outlined in the Equality
Act.”