List of 'Gay'-Friendly Companies Continues to Grow
by Ed Thomas
September 21, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Homosexual-rights supporters were cheering -- and conservative leaders were displeased -- as an annual survey released this week by the Human Rights Campaign showed 37 more U.S. companies making perfect scores this year on an index of friendliness to "gays," lesbians, bisexuals, and transgenders. The reason behind the increase may be about making money.
The 2006 Corporate Equality Index's 138-member list includes perennial representatives like IBM, Levi-Strauss, Nike, and even Ford Motor Company. It measures benefits and protections to "gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender" employees and customers, including promises against discrimination. The jump from a list of 101 last year to 138 this year is being called a reflection of several culture trends. (See related article on WorldNetDaily)
Peter LaBarbera is president of Americans for Truth, a group that monitors the homosexual agenda throughout American culture. He contends that the campaigns to portray homosexuals and transgenders as a minority -- and to represent them as large contributors to corporate America's bottom line -- has been successful. And the rest of America, LaBarbera adds, finds it hard to fight the demands of the homosexual agenda, which he believes has been absorbed into the diversity movement.
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Peter LaBarbera |
"At one time there were many people [in the diversity movement] who resisted the idea of including a sexual group among other minorities," says the Americans for Truth president. "Now they've sort of folded the 'gay community' into the diversity movement, and that is yielding big bucks for homosexual groups because now you see corporations pandering to this minority."LaBarbera admits the trend in corporate America is growing. "I think the corporate world is now in a rush to embrace the gay agenda fully," he offers. "They don't see a downside, and it's up to pro-family Americans to create a downside." And to do that, he adds, those in the corporate environment with traditional values have to take a stand against the diversity agenda in order to see its growth stymied.
According to WorldNetDaily, three big names in the corporate world received a zero rating in the 2006 Corporate Equality Index: ExxonMobil, Meijer Inc., and Perot Systems. Those companies received their own "perfect score" because they do not offer the same benefits to employees who choose an alternative lifestyle as are offered to those in traditional lifestyles.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
