May 17, 2019
Washington, D.C. — The National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC), the business voice of the LGBT community, sends its gratitude to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House leaders who have passed The Equality Act in United States House of Representatives. This act will ensure federal non-discrimination protections for LGBT people, promoting equal access to employment, housing, credit, public spaces and services, education, federally funded programs, and beyond. The NGLCC urges the United States Senate to act in the social and economic best interests of all Americans and pass the bill in their chamber.“As NGLCC has always asserted: being open for business means being open to everyone. The US House clearly agrees and is acting in the best interest of the entire nation with today’s passage of the Equality Act. When LGBT workers and entrepreneurs are protected, they are empowered to bring their whole selves to work, which increases productivity and innovation, raises performance levels, and retains top LGBT talent,” says NGLCC Co-Founder and President Justin Nelson. “The Equality Act highlights many of the inequities that have kept tax-paying, law-abiding LGBT citizens from achieving success. Our economy simply does not achieve all it can unless everyone is included and given a fair shot. The protections of the Equality Act bring us much closer to the inclusion we need for the American Dream to be accessible to every LGBT American. We look forward to the the essential conversations that benefit LGBT business owners, including protection from discrimination in government contracting alongside other diverse-owned businesses that will follow the full passage of this bill and we strongly endorse the Equality Act. While we urge the Senate to pass, and President to sign, this bill, we are also cognizant of the attitudes looking to take our country backwards. The LGBT business community simply will not allow that to happen.”
The NGLCC is the nation’s leader on creating opportunities in the marketplace for hardworking LGBT business owners to contribute to the national economy. The Equality Act will bring the nation in line with a long-held best practice of corporate America: treating every worker and business owner with equal dignity and respect. Both this bill and the recent EEOC and Circuit Court decisions upholding LGBT workplace protections affirm the timeliness of efforts to improve LGBT business opportunities. The NGLCC has always underscored the business case for LGBT inclusion and has asserted the economic importance of non-discrimination practices at every level of local, state, and federal government.
“Equal protection for America’s LGBT employees, business owners, and job creators has an immediate bottom line benefit to every community,” says NGLCC Co-Founder & CEO Chance Mitchell. “A level playing field ensures that merit is the only factor that allows someone to succeed in business. Think of the endless opportunities to contribute to the economy that await LGBT Americans when we are no longer afraid of being fired from our jobs, evicted from our homes, denied service in restaurants and shops, and are free from discrimination in accessing credit to help expand our businesses simply for being who we are. We hope the Senate and President will do the right thing and make this essential legislation law. In the event they do not, NGLCC and our partners will do what we have always done: use every economic and social tool at our disposal to make an economy and society that works for everyone in the United States.”
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The National LGBT Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC) is the business voice of the LGBT community and is the largest global advocacy organization specifically dedicated to expanding economic opportunities and advancements for LGBT people. NGLCC is the exclusive certification body for LGBT-owned businesses, known as LGBT Business Enterprises (Certified LGBTBEs®). www.nglcc.org @nglcc
