Big Business Does Do Something Right Once In Awhile... Maybe

Do they have our back when it comes to discrimination?

Over 500 corporations back effort to support Equality Act. Does it matter?
Critics point out that some of those same companies are funding the politicians who are standing in the way of the sweeping LGBTQ rights bill’s passage.
NBC News
By Matt Lavietes
January 25, 2022


A business coalition that is urging the passage of landmark LGBTQ rights legislation grew to more than 500 companies Tuesday.

Launched in 2016 by LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign, the Business Coalition for the Equality Act is a group of U.S. corporations that have pledged their support for a bill that would federally ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, known as the Equality Act.

As of Tuesday, the group was composed of 503 corporations — including 160 Fortune 500 companies — making it the largest business coalition to pledge support for LGBTQ equality, the HRC said. Corporations new to the coalition include McDonald’s, Harley-Davidson, Sony, REI, Honeywell, Edward Jones and Stop & Shop.

“Today’s announcement reinforces the breadth and depth of support for the Equality Act among America’s business leaders, who are joining a majority of Americans, hundreds of members of Congress, hundreds of advocacy organizations, and more than 60 business associations — including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Manufacturers — in endorsing the federal legislation,” the HRC said in a statement.

But as the article points out that they are talking out of both sides of their mouth.

We heard the same thing during the insurrection.

The Corporate Insurrection: How companies have broken promises and funded seditionists
Citizen for Ethical Government
By Angela Li and Areeba Shah
January 3, 2022


The January 6 attack shocked the nation. Even Corporate America appeared to register that democracy faced one of its most precarious moments in our country’s history. They promised to hold members of Congress who sought to undermine democracy accountable. But it wouldn’t be long before business interests lured these companies back into the giving game. 

Many companies that cut off donations to Republicans in Congress after January 6 have since abandoned those commitments, reportedly driven by concerns about losing influence with Republican lawmakers. This has been amplified by members of the Sedition Caucus threatening companies that cut them off. CREW has persistently called out the companies that have caved to this pressure for putting political access over the urgent need to take a stand for democracy. Instead of filling the campaign coffers of members who voted not to certify the election and continue to spread the Big Lie, corporations and industry groups should demand that these members renounce their votes and stop undermining our democracy.

With talking out of both sides of their mouth how can anyone take them on their word? 

You also have to take into account that many of these same companies have a 100% rating from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Corporate Equality Index (CEI) 

The NBC article goes to say,

But as the HRC celebrated, some critics called its business coalition a form of “pinkwashing,” a term used to describe corporate exploitation of LGBTQ people.

“It’s a way for HRC to, like, ‘play with the big boys’ as it were, as well as to bring in money,” said Jay W. Walker, an organizer with the Reclaim Pride Coalition, the group behind New York City’s alternative LGBTQ Pride march. “For the corporations, it’s a way for them to pinkwash their images and to make LGBTQ people who don’t pay attention to the details think: ‘Oh great, they’re wonderful. They’re great corporate citizens.’”

Walker also noted that some of the same companies that publicly backed the passage of the Equality Act are funding the politicians who are standing in its way.

As far as I am concerned the CEI is not worth the paper it is printed on.

Action is greater is greater than words and so far the business actions shows they are just words to placate us.