News
2005-12-01
HRC releases
pro-gay buyer's guide
A new pro-gay
"buyer's guide" allows consumers to choose
gay-friendly companies.
As the holiday
As the holiday
shopping season heats up across America, consumers who
want to support workplace equality for gays and lesbians now
have a powerful tool. "Buying for Equality,” a
new buyer's guide from the gay rights group Human
Right Campaign, highlights corporate policies on
lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equality. The
publication allows consumers to make purchasing
decisions based on a company's score on the Human
Rights Campaign Foundation's nationally respected Corporate
Equality Index, a scorecard of corporate policies affecting
their gay employees, including domestic-partner
benefits and nondiscrimination policies.
“LGBT
Americans are changing the policies of corporate America at
the checkout line," said HRC president Joe Solmonese.
"With an estimated $610 billion worth of buying power,
this guide empowers our community to easily support
companies that take a stand for fairness."
Hundreds of
popular American brands are listed in the publication,
drawing simple distinctions between products, services, and
retail outlets that consumers use on a daily basis.
For example, shoppers considering where to buy
electronic goods can choose between Best Buy, which
has a 100% score, or Circuit City, with its 43% score. For
pet food, Iams's 86% tops Alpo's 29%.
Seventy percent
of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people are
very or extremely likely to consider a brand that is known
to provide equal workplace benefits for gay and
lesbian employees, according to research by
Witeck-Combs Communications and Harris Interactive.
"Ensuring equality for all employees on the job is good for
the bottom line, and corporate America is responding
in historic numbers," Solmonese said. “We are
using our collective purchasing power to continue to
influence change.”
The guide is
available online at www.hrc.org/BuyersGuide.
(Advocate.com)
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