Corporate America is Writing on the Wall: ‘No Discrimination for LGBT'

You may have noticed — or perhaps not — that almost every time a state government  anywhere in America entertains the notion of adopting laws that might infringe upon the rights of gay people,   the political backlash these days comes in part from big businesses.

Last year, for example, the business community raised a great  fuss about a so-called religious liberty bill in Indiana, prompting the state to weaken the measure somewhat. But the controversy still is said to have cost Indiana about $60 million in revenues.

In various other cases, large corporations with familiar names similarly have threatened to withdraw from states where anti-gay legislation is under consideration. Even the National Football League indicated that plans for a Super Bowl in Atlanta would be reviewed if Georgia adopted a certain measure seen as homophobic.

The irony in all of this is that it represents a new  strain in relations between business interests and social conservatives in the Republican Party. GOP leaders are now torn between their traditional pro-business fealty and their fear of right-wing religionists.

Still, the times are changing — and Republicans won't be  able to turn back the clock.

[Posting from my fellow blogger Leavenworth Times]

An analysis in the Washington Post the other day said THIS:

Corporate America's evolution on gay rights appears to have reached  a tipping point, one where so many companies have taken a stand on the issue  that the risk of speaking out has  been  superseded by the risk of not doing so.  The watershed levels of opposition to recent legislation in Indiana, Georgia and North Carolina has turned the question of “why would a company  publicly wade into social issues like gay rights?” into another one: “Why wouldn't they?”

What was once exceptional has become, in other words, almost expected.

How did it happen? Public sentiment surely is playing a role.  A recent survey by Public Religion Research Institute finds that 71 percent of Americans support laws that would protect lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination in jobs, housing and public accommodations.  Data from the Pew Research Center recently  found that 55 percent of Americans, and 70 percent of millennials, support same-sex marriage.