Welcoming workplaces

As state and local governments consider antigay ballot initiatives in 2005, companies are making their workplaces gay-friendlier.

The Advocate has put together its seventh annual list of 10 great places for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people to work. We pored over information provided by the companies and their employees, and we were aided by the Human Rights Campaign’s 2005 Corporate Equality Index, which was released in September. “The report balances the discussion the country is having about equality for GLBT people,” says Daryl Herrschaft, director of HRC’s Workplace Project and author of the index. “While we may be losing at the ballot box, the business community is more and more on the side of fairness and equality.”

Herrschaft notes that the number of companies that scored a perfect 100 jumped from 56 last year to 101 this year, and more companies are contacting HRC wanting to score 100.

Adds HRC president Joe Solmonese: “While LGBT people struggle for equality under the law, corporations are filling the gaps where governments have left Americans vulnerable.”

Keep in mind that the following list is not meant to signify the top 10 best places for gay employees but is a sampling of 10 workplaces that understand how pro-gay policies make for happier, more productive employees as well as a stronger bottom line.

Gap Inc.
Revenue: $16.3 billion
Number of employees: Over 150,000
Fortune 500 rank: 130
HRC score: 100

To be sure, Gap Inc. is a retail behemoth, owning the Old Navy and Banana Republic brands, but it has not forgotten its socially progressive San Francisco roots. The company’s antidiscrimination policy includes both sexual orientation and gender identity. The policy applies to employees, applicants, customers, and business partners (including independent contractors, vendors, and suppliers). Gap has an explicit zero-tolerance policy toward discrimination.

Domestic partners of employees are eligible for the same benefits coverage as spouses of legally married employees, including medical, dental, and vision coverage.

Additionally, Gap has made donations through the Gap Foundation to many gay and lesbian organizations. It has also donated to HIV/AIDS organizations such as the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, the AIDS Legal Referral Panel, Project Open Hand, and the Richmond Foundation. —F.K.

General Mills
Revenue: $12.5 billion
Number of employees: 27,500
Fortune 500 rank: 197
HRC score: 100

Betty Crocker might be a character associated with happy homemakers of the 1950s, but she’s come a long way. And so has her company, General Mills, which this year added gender identity to its written antidiscrimination policy, earning it a perfect score in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.

Betty Crocker even lent her name to the company’s gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender employees’ group, Betty’s Family (a General Mills twist on the phrase “Friends of Dorothy”).

“This is a great company,” says gay employee Lee Anderson, manager of state and local government relations at the Minnesota-based corporation and a member of Betty’s Family since he started working at General Mills four years ago. “I feel very lucky working for a company that values diversity the way General Mills does.”

Betty’s Family is one of seven diversity networks at the company; others include the Black Champions Network, the American Indian Council, and the Women’s Forum. Also, a dedicated group of educators known as the Diversity Cadre conducts sensitivity training and sponsors events aimed at fostering awareness of cultural differences. Special councils are also active in championing the need for diversity throughout the company.

General Mills added sexual orientation to its antidiscrimination policy in the early 1990s. The company has offered domestic-partner benefits—including medical, dental, and life insurance—for same-sex couples since 1999.

General Mills also supports local and regional gay and lesbian groups and activities such as the Rainbow Families Conference, the Twin Cities Pride festival, and District 202, a gay youth center in Minneapolis. The company is a local sponsor of HRC. —F.K.

GlaxoSmithKline
Revenue: $37.2 billion
Total number of employees: 100,000
Fortune 500 rank: NA
HRC score: 100

This pharmaceutical and health care company may be based in the United Kingdom, but its U.S. operations—in Philadelphia and North Carolina—are gay-friendly.

In 2000 the company began offering benefits to same-sex couples, and its North Carolina office has a popular support group for gay workers that holds social events and helps with relocation and other aspects of work and home life.

“They meet regularly and are a pretty active group,” says Patricia Seif, a company spokeswoman.

GSK, which currently sells eight HIV/AIDS medications, controls an estimated 7% of the world’s pharmaceutical market. And one of GSK’s major community undertakings is its Positive Action program, a global partnership with HIV/AIDS communities that works to provide more effective HIV education and prevention as well as enhanced care, support, and treatment for those living with or affected by the virus. In April, GSK contributed $1 million for a project to help reduce the stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS in Mexico. —Greg Hernandez

Kaiser Permanente
Revenue: $28 billion
Number of employees: 153,000, plus 12,000 physicians
Fortune 500 rank: NA
HRC score: 100

As the nation’s largest nonprofit HMO, Kaiser Permanente has a diverse membership in nine states and the District of Columbia. That means the company hires its fair share of gay staff and doctors. “Members want to see people who look like them, talk like them, and understand their culture,” says John Edmiston, a community relations manager for the Oakland, Calif.–based corporation.

Edmiston is a former president and current council member of KP Pride: Northern California LGBT Staff Association. Each of the organization’s regions has its own KP Pride group. KP Pride was formed in 1993 as a vehicle for gay and lesbian staff to lobby for domestic-partner benefits.

Not much lobbying was needed. The national office quickly approved a policy allowing nonmarried partners access to health insurance. Kaiser Permanente added sexual orientation to its written nondiscrimination policy in 1994 and added gender identity in 2004. The company has a national diversity department, a national diversity council, and regional diversity councils.

Kaiser Permanente markets directly to gay health care consumers through magazine advertising as well as community outreach at venues such as local pride celebrations. The HMO also keeps lists of providers who are not only open to but interested in seeing LGBT clients. “So if you are looking for a physician you can feel comfortable with,” says Edmiston, “you can call us.” —F.K.

Olivia Cruises and Resorts
Revenue: $14.4 million
Total number of employees: 35
Fortune 500 rank: NA
HRC score: 100

In 2002 Olivia Cruises sold just under $7 million in exclusively gay travel packages. Last year the company more than doubled that revenue, and 98% of Olivia’s travelers report that they would use the service again. “Our groups are not mixed in with other groups. It’s a 100% gay experience,” says Amy Errett, chief executive officer of San Francisco–based Olivia.

This type of travel is important because it allows many closeted gays and lesbians to truly be out during the trip, often for the first time. As a result of this dramatic experience, a special bond forms between Olivia travelers and the company.

Olivia also stands as a leader in terms of catering to the needs of its employees, offering a complete range of standard benefits for employees and partners as well as some interesting twists: Olivia matches up to $50 in monthly public transit costs, raffles off free parking, and takes the entire staff out to lunch on a regular basis.

From its humble beginnings as a record label during the 1970s, Olivia continues to look forward to the future, planning a retirement community, a broad-based rewards and discount network, and continued promotion of special events like its lesbian film festival and adventure vacation packages. —Mike Hudson