Chou Toshio
Over9000
So people who watched the development of so-called "religious freedom" state laws are probably aware that corporate America really threw its weight behind the LGBT community. Companies like Disney, Coca-Cola, IBM, Apple, Twitter, etc. stopped or threatened to stop operations, closed down development plans, and sent out tweets and letters demanding that policy makers desist or fix laws that would "demean [our] company's values and severely impact [LGBT employees and potential hires]."
The potential loss of jobs and economic development presented to state policy makers with tremendous pressure that played a big role in fixing or hard-stopping these laws. I'm sure I'm not the only one who applauded these actions.
That said, I think there is something to be said about the arguments presented here: http://fortune.com/2016/04/02/corporate-america-lgbt-community/
How much of a political voice should companies have? Perhaps it's easy to cheer when you agree with the stance taken by corporations-- and there are many with aggressive voices for diversity and even drives for environmental protection. It's easy to cheer when you think corporations are doing the right thing.
But there are also so many other issues on which corporate dollars are spent towards issues and policies that negatively impact society. There are "good" companies, "bad" companies, and every large organization has a lot of people--a lot of apples--and inherently will have a continued struggle to always do the right thing in a complex world with complex issues.
How do people feel about corporate America's backing of the LGBT community? Does it affect the way you perceive those companies? Do you agree or disagree with company's giving voice to these types of issues?
The potential loss of jobs and economic development presented to state policy makers with tremendous pressure that played a big role in fixing or hard-stopping these laws. I'm sure I'm not the only one who applauded these actions.
That said, I think there is something to be said about the arguments presented here: http://fortune.com/2016/04/02/corporate-america-lgbt-community/
How much of a political voice should companies have? Perhaps it's easy to cheer when you agree with the stance taken by corporations-- and there are many with aggressive voices for diversity and even drives for environmental protection. It's easy to cheer when you think corporations are doing the right thing.
But there are also so many other issues on which corporate dollars are spent towards issues and policies that negatively impact society. There are "good" companies, "bad" companies, and every large organization has a lot of people--a lot of apples--and inherently will have a continued struggle to always do the right thing in a complex world with complex issues.
How do people feel about corporate America's backing of the LGBT community? Does it affect the way you perceive those companies? Do you agree or disagree with company's giving voice to these types of issues?
Last edited: