Businesses lead the way on LGBTQ inclusion

The Economist is hosting the “Pride and Prejudice” conference, held jointly in Hong Kong, London, and New York today to present the business and economic case for LGBT diversity and inclusion.

According to HRC’s A.M. Equality email, “This morning, HRC President Chad Griffin joined NYU Law Professor Kenji Yoshino and Marriott International President Arne Sorenson in New York City to get down to business at the Economist Pride and Prejudice event.

“The topic? How businesses are putting forth ethical models for LGBT inclusion at home and abroad, and how these models can influence governments. Businesses across the country are stepping out of the boardroom and into the public square, as we’ve seen across the globe with companies like Marriott and the World Bank speaking out against anti-LGBT bills and practices, limiting their businesses in these areas as a way to influence governments to do right by their LGBT citizens.”

The Economist’s website says, “The Economist has throughout its history been a committed advocate of human freedom. It put the case for gay marriage on its cover in 1996. It believes that discrimination on grounds of gender or sexuality is not only morally wrong but bad for business and the economy.

“Through our Pride & Prejudice event in March 2016 and this website we aim to advance the global discussion on LGBT diversity and inclusion, particularly by focusing on the economic and business costs of LGBT discrimination and the profitable opportunities that lie in overcoming it.”

Topics covered at the conference include promoting LGBT rights in hostile places: It’s a jungle out there, featured in Pink Economics. Matthew Bishop and Bee Vang wrote in an article, that “The giddy progress in recent years on LGBT rights in America and much of Europe has not been matched in most of the rest of the world.

“Indeed in some countries, including Russia and many in Africa, things have been moving in the wrong direction. That presents a huge challenge to the growing number of leading multinational companies that have publicly committed to building diverse, inclusive cultures among their staff wherever they operate in the world. What should those companies do in countries where LGBT equality is not the norm, or where some LGBT activities are illegal?”

Pride at work is a major topic. The website says,  in reviewing the topic “Return on Equality: Why Multinationals are Leading the Way on LGBT Inclusion: In today’s globalized economy, companies with LGBT-inclusive policies and the desire to recruit and retain top talent increasingly need to reckon with the business challenges posed by operating in countries where LGBT people face societal discrimination.”

The conference also covers the “Politics of Inclusion.” There are articles about Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore’s continued effort to ban same-sex marriage, and the division within the Anglican Communion over same-sex marriage and gay clergy.

Cultural divides is another topic area, including discussions of “Gay tourism: In or out of Africa?” and an article on millennials, “When the young get older: Their time will come.”

You can read more about the event here: bit.ly/1Tb7GwL

The Gayly – March 3, 2016 @ 4:30 p.m.