Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Do you work for a fully LGBT-inclusive employer in Memphis?

Send a message in support of
LGBT-inclusive workplace protections
to the Memphis City Council.
You may be able to advocate for a fully inclusive employment non-discrimination ordinance for City of Memphis employees

You may be working for an employer which fully protects lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination on the job in Memphis?


Here's a partial list of companies in the Memphis area which offer anti-discrimination policies which provide equal opportunity in employment without regard to sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression: Best Buy; Costco; Comcast;  FedEx;  First Horizon;  Harrah’s Entertainment;  Hilton; J.C. Penny; Kroger; Macy’s; Medtronic; Merck;  Nike; Office Depot; Sears;  Starbucks; State Farm; SunTrust Banks; Target; United Parcel Service;  Wachovia Bank; Walgreens; Wal-Mart; and Williams-Sonoma.

If you work for any of the above companies, send the following message to the Memphis City Council at http://bit.ly/ContactCityCouncil. Copy and paste this message to "ALL" council members in the link provided and be sure to add your company name:

Dear Memphis City Council,

I am writing to thank the Memphis City Council for voting to add national origin, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation to the Memphis employment non-discrimination ordinance on Tuesday, Sept. 18.

While I am grateful for the inclusion of the above non-merit factors, I am deeply concerned that gender identity and gender expression were omitted from this ordinance. I work for [insert company name], a company in the Memphis area, which offers LGBT-inclusive workplace protections in its anti-discrimination policy. In other words, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in my workplace are protected from discrimination in hiring, promotion or job retention.

Many large Memphis-area businesses like FedEx, Medtronic, Comcast, Harrah’s Entertainment, Hilton, Starbucks, First Horizon, Kroger, Delta, Nike and Merck also provide LGBT inclusive anti-discrimination policies. It’s simply good business to protect all employees on the job. While I can’t speak officially on behalf of my employer, I feel that my company has learned that fully inclusive employment policies help to recruit and retain the most talented and qualified people to the workforce.


Memphis would be in good company if city government were to follow the lead of these employers in providing these same protections. To ensure a fully inclusive ordinance, I urge you to vote to add gender identity and gender expression to the proposed ordinance on Oct. 16.

Sincerely,


[Your Full Name]

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