Thirty-five corporations and 107 small
businesses have signed a letter calling on lawmakers in Tennessee to
rejected five proposed anti-LGBT bills.
The letter, organized by the Nashville
LGBT Chamber of Commerce with support from Freedom for All Americans,
GLAAD and HRC, comes after Governor Bill Lee signed a bill (HB 836)
into law which prohibits the state from requiring foster care and
adoption agencies to place a child in a home that violates “the
agency's written religious or moral convictions.”
(Related: TN
Governor Bill Lee signs anti-LGBT adoption bill.)
“Policies that signal that the state
is not welcoming to everyone put our collective economic success at
risk,” the letter states. “We ask that lawmakers not pursue any
further legislation that would target or exclude LGBTQ people, which
would do harm to Tennesseans and create unnecessary hurdles to
economic competitiveness.”
Corporate signers of the letter include
AllianceBernstein, Amalgamated Bank, Amazon, American Airlines,
Bridgestone Americas, Camelot, Care Services, CMT, Concord, Cummins,
Inc., Curb Records, Dell Technologies, Discovery, Inc., Dow, Genesco,
Hilton, IKEA North America Services, LLC, Lyft, Inc., Marriott
International, Inc., Mars, Inc., Nashville Convention and Visitors
Corp, Nashville International Airport, Nashville Predators, Nashville
Soccer Club, Nike, Inc., Nissan North America, Postmates, Salesforce,
ServiceSource; Sustainable Food Policy Alliance, including member
companies Danone North America; Mars, Incorporated; Nestlé USA; and
Unilever United States; Tennessee Titans, Trillium Asset Management,
Unilever, Vanderbilt University, Warby Parker, Warner Music Group.
“These bills legitimize
discriminatory practices against LGBTQ people and will define
Tennessee as a state where LGBTQ citizens are second-class citizens,”
said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis. “Companies that do
business in the state should not sit idly by.”
CNBC
noted that FedEx, the largest company headquartered in Tennessee,
declined to sign the letter.
“With more than three dozen large
corporations speaking out against the slate of legislation today,
FedEx's refusal to address is notable and out of step with other
companies doing business in Tennessee,” GLAAD told CNBC in an
email.
Three of the bills introduced are aimed
at transgender people, one would prevent government entities from
offering incentives to a company based on its nondiscrimination
policies, and one would declare that marriage in Tennessee was only
between a man and a woman.