ExxonMobil, the world's largest company
by revenue, now stands alone in not offering protections to gay and
lesbian workers in the Fortune 50, and GMAC has that distinction in
the Fortune 100.
A new report released Wednesday by the
Philadelphia-based Equality Forum shows a seismic shift from a
majority (64.6%) to near universal (94.2%) adoption of sexual
orientation nondiscrimination policies in the Fortune 500 since the
fall of 2003.
“The Fortune 500 have overwhelmingly
decided that including sexual orientation is in the best corporate
interest and helps communicate corporate values to the estimated $660
billion annual GLBT consumer market,” said Equality Forum Executive
Director Malcolm Lazin in a press release.
This year marks the fifth year the
group has polled Fortune 500 companies about gay protections.
Equality Forum worked alongside Professor Louis Thomas of the Wharton
School and Professor of Law Ian Ayres of the Yale Law School.
ExxonMobil remains the only Fortune 50
company that does not specifically provide sexual orientation
protections. At the company's 2008 shareholder meeting, a record
number of shareholders (40%) voted in favor of adding sexual
orientation and gender identity to the company's official employment
policy, despite opposition by ExxonMobil management.