More than two decades ago, when gay men and lesbians were prohibited from serving openly in the U.S. military and no state had legalized same-sex marriages, a national LGBTQ+ rights group decided to promote change by grading corporations on their workplace policies.
The Human Rights Campaign initially focused its report card, named the Corporate Equality Index, on ensuring that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer employees did not face discrimination in hiring and on the job. Just 13 companies received a perfect score in 2002. By last year, 545 businesses did even though the requirements have expanded.
But the scorecard itself has come under attack in recent months by conservative activists who targeted businesses as part of a broader pushback against diversity initiatives. Ford, Harley- Davidson and Lowe’s are among the companies that announced they would no longer participate in the Corporate Equality Index.
I work gov side and was in the military. It helped in both places if it was supported by the bosses. Gay jokes stopped in my unit when someone got an instant public talking to when he used the gay f word as a term for the enemy team during an exercise. It made people realize that being ok with gay jokes bread a hostile workplace.
Same reason the military implemented the same training to curb rape and violence against women. If you cultivate an environment that stomps out the small/passive hate, it will show the people that commit hateful acts that they are not welcome.
Now that I work on the civilian side it helps so that the work we do is not hampered by a white male only experience. Others are not afraid to speak up on how decisions, settings, or tech effects people differently.