The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), along with our coalition partners Out Leadership and Freedom for All Americans, is glad the Trump administration has decided to be “respectful & supportive of LGBTQ rights” by maintaining critical LGBT+ workplace protections for federal contractors. Business has long understood that protecting LGBT+ Americans is good for business, essential for creating a vibrant, competitive workforce, and a fundamental principle of a strong and resilient economy. As NGLCC’s report “America’s LGBT Economy” shows, the $1.7 trillion worth of economic impact and tens of thousands of jobs created by LGBT-owned businesses benefit everyone in our country.
We will work to ensure that LGBT+ inclusion, and the jobs and prosperity that accompany it, is protected against discrimination of any form at the federal or state level, including any amendments to existing policies that would allow businesses to use religion as an excuse to discriminate.
The President’s decision to continue nondiscrimination protections for employees of federal contractors is the smart choice, both economically and morally, and also a best practice of the vast majority of America’s largest companies. Markets prove time and again that LGBT+ inclusion is good for business, employees and our economy, and that there are negative economic consequences to discrimination. Now is the time to be doubling down on investing in LGBT-owned businesses and those corporations that support and include them in economic development opportunities.
In the last two years alone, nearly 3,500 American companies have joined state or local business coalitions dedicated to protecting LGBT+ people from discrimination and improving their state’s economy by advancing equal treatment for LGBT+ Americans at the state and national level.
We hope this signals that the federal government will continue replicating these private sector best practices, including the full inclusion of all diverse communities at the economic table. This will enable diverse business leaders to thrive in the workplace and in supply chains, fueling America’s economic engine.
