The number of companies earning top
marks for how they treat their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
employees has hit a record high, according to a new report released
Tuesday by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBT
rights advocate.
The Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) 14th
annual Corporate Equality Index (CEI) ranks 407 major companies with
a perfect score of 100, the most in the history of HRC's CEI program.
The record was hit despite a new
requirement that top-scoring companies have a global
non-discrimination policy that specifically prohibits discrimination
on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
“This year represents a milestone in
the history of the CEI, and corporate America continues to break new
ground in the fight for LGBT equality,” HRC President Chad Griffin
said in a statement. “Our nation’s top companies this year have
risen in record-breaking numbers to the challenge of extending
non-discrimination protections to their LGBT employees around the
globe. These companies and law firms have consistently shown
leadership in building support for greater equality for LGBT
employees, and not just within the walls of their own workplace.
This year's CEI demonstrates that business understands what many have
long known: The fight for LGBT equality does not end at our borders,
but is a global endeavor that must be pursued with greater urgency
than ever before.”
Twitter, Uber and Airbnb were among the
newcomers to earn a perfect score. Apple and Xerox are among the
companies that have scored high marks since the survey's introduction
in 2002.
The
CEI first included trans-inclusive health care as a requisite for
companies to receive a perfect score in 2012. Perfect scores at
first tumbled from 337 to 189 but have since rebounded. This year's
survey identifies 511 companies that offer at least one
trans-inclusive health care option. In 2002, no Fortune 500 company
offered such a benefit.