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Exxon To
Vote
On Gay
Rights Measure
by Doug
Windsor, 365Gay.com
New York
Bureau from the Web, May 16, 2006
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New York City -- Shareholders
in ExxonMobil, the only major U.S. company to rescind a non-discrimination
policy covering sexual orientation, will vote this month on a proposal to
reinstate the job guarantees.
The company's annual meeting will be held on May 31.
This month shareholders at two other major corporations that include gay rights
in their policies, American Express and Ford, defeated attempts to drop its
protections for LGBT workers. In both cases the companies recommended
voting down the measures.
But for six years shareholders at Exxon have agreed with a company position that
protections for its LGBT workers are not needed.
One of the leading advocates for change has been New York City Employees
Retirement Fund. Last year its call to reinstate LGBT protections was
supported by 29 percent of the voting stockholders. It was the highest
percentage in the six years gay supporters have brought the issue to the floor.
LGBT workers had been included in employment policies at Mobil. In
December 1999 when Mobil merged with Exxon and under Exxon's direction, the
policy was abandoned. At the same time, it closed Mobil's domestic partner
benefits program to any more employees.
NYCERS currently holds 11.9 million shares worth approximately $446 million in
the company.
New York's pension funds have a long history of activism on behalf of social
causes, including gay rights. The funds were part of a decade-long battle
to get CBRL Group Inc., the parent company of the Cracker Barrel restaurant
chain, to bar discrimination based on sexual orientation. CBRL, which
reportedly fired at least 11 gay workers in the 1990s, agreed to change its
policy in November 2002 after a resolution garnered 58 percent of the vote.
It also backed a resolution that resulted in J.C. Penney Co. supporting LGBT non
discrimination.
Earlier this month fast food chain Wendy's International has agreed to amend its
employment nondiscrimination policy by adding new written protections based on
sexual orientation and gender identity for all employees.
While companies which include adding protections for gay workers in their
written non-discrimination rules say they are doing so because its the right
thing to do most financial analysts suggest the real reason is the realization
of the pink buck.
LGBT purchasing power in the U.S. has been estimated at $641 billion a year.
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