ExxonMobil has a problem with gay/trans people
ExxonMobil has a problem with gay/trans people
| From: | |
| Sent: | Fri 5/21/10 5:30 PM |
| To: | http://adamfoxie.blogspot.com |
Adam, we've got to tell you about a stunning letter we just received. First, here's the background...
Last Friday, we stood with 25 of our friends in the wind and rain in front of an ExxonMobil gas station in Dallas for two hours. We did so because Exxon, upon merging with Mobil in the late 90s, had stripped sexual orientation and gender identity from their U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) statement. After years of advocacy, they still refuse to reinstate these protections. It's bad enough when companies don't include our community in their non-discrimination policies, but to remove us is reprehensible.
Will you sign a petition to ExxonMobil with us, demanding that the company offer a safe workplace for employees? We'll deliver your signatures next Wednesday, May 26, at the shareholder meeting.
After the protest, we sent a letter to the Directors of ExxonMobil, asking why the policy had been altered and demanding that our community be protected in the workplace. Just yesterday, we received a response from the Vice President of Investor Relations. Here's the core of what the letter said:
"Where we [ExxonMobil] operate in countries in which the national laws require specific language regarding nondiscrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity be included in policies, we have amended our policies as appropriate."
We feel that we need to respond -- that our community cannot let global companies like ExxonMobil get away with offering up piecemeal protections only when backed into a corner by local governments. But we need your support -- and the support of the rest of the LGBT community -- in order to have an impact.
We all know that legislation like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would go far in preventing this kind of slicing and dicing of discriminatory policies. And GetEQUAL, in partnership with many other groups across the country, is pushing hard for ENDA to be passed this year. Without a federal law prohibiting workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, global companies like ExxonMobil must be pushed to do so on their own.1
ExxonMobil's response means, "We'll do the right thing if the government makes us do it." This just isn't good enough.
Sign our petition and make your voice heard!
Please stand with us and with others across the country in pressuring ExxonMobil to do the right thing -- to add sexual orientation and gender identity to its EEO policies in the U.S. and elsewhere. GetEQUAL will continue to fight for the passage of ENDA on the federal level, but our voices must be heard at companies across the world, as well.
Get Out, Get Active, GetEQUAL!
-Michael, Mark, Chas, and the GetEQUAL crew
1 - "Exxon Mobil Corp. (ExxonMobil) is the only U.S. employer that has ever rescinded both a non-discrimination policy covering sexual orientation and domestic partner benefits, and is the only Fortune 10 company that does not have a non-discrimination policy covering sexual orientation." (Taken from the website of the Human Rights Campaign: http://www.hrc.org/issues/workplace/equal_opportunity/exxon-mobil-corporation.htm.)
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