ExxonMobil votes down gay protections
ExxonMobil votes down gay protections
May 26th, 2010
- Protesters at the ExxonMobil shareholders meeting earlier today.
Each year since Exxon and Mobil merged, a proposal has come before the shareholders to add sexual orientation to the company’s nondiscrimination policy. And the percentage of shareholders voting in favor of the proposal has increased each year — until this one.
Only 22 percent of ExxonMobil shareholders voted in favor of adding the protections during today’s annual meeting at the Meyerson Symphony Center in downtown Dallas. Last year 40 percent of shareholders voted in favor of the proposal.
About two dozen LGBT protesters gathered outside the meeting with signs and bullhorns.
Richard Miller of the Dallas Peace Center was inside the meeting voting shares for a friend from Berkeley, Calif. He spoke in favor of the proposal and said a number of other shareholders, including a member of the Rockefeller family, spoke on behalf of environmental justice and sustainability issues. ExxonMobil is a direct descendant of the John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil Co.
For more, stay tuned to Instant Tea. For a full recap, see Friday’s Voice.
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