Uber, Lyft,
PepsiCo and PayPal are among the companies calling on Governor Greg
Abbott to drop his support for legislation that would restrict
bathroom access for transgender people.
In a letter to the
governor, the CEOs called the legislation “discriminatory.”
“No industry
will remain untouched by the unnecessary harm that discriminatory
laws will do to our competitiveness, to our ability to attract
talent, and to our employees and their families.”
The CEOs also
stressed the economic harm such laws cause.
“[W]e also have
ample evidence of the long-term economic harm that these so-called
'bathroom bills' will cause,” the CEOs wrote.
The letter was
also signed by CEOs from Neiman Marcus, JPMorgan Chase, Frito-Lay and
Baker Hughes.
Abbott called
lawmakers back to Austin for a special summer session to tackle 20
items, including the bathroom issue. While the Senate
approved its version of the bill last week, the House has yet to
take up the issue and House Speaker Joe Straus has been open about
his opposition.
(Related: Texas
House speaker cites suicide in opposing transgender bathroom access
bill.)
According to The
Dallas Morning News, 34 Fortune 500 companies have so far
come out against the legislation, including Amazon.com, Apple, AT&T,
American Airlines, Facebook, Halliburton and IBM.