Microsoft and Symantec have joined the
growing list of companies backing a bill that seeks to ban anti-LGBT
discrimination in all areas of civil rights.
If approved, the bill, titled the
Equality Act, would prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in seven key
areas, including credit, education, employment, federal funding,
housing, jury service and public accommodations, by effectively
expanding the Civil Rights Act, originally approved in 1964.
“To create technology that empowers
the world, we need to reflect the diversity of the world,”
Microsoft said in a written statement. “Supporting diversity,
inclusiveness and equal treatment is not just good for business, it
is also the right thing to do. That's why we support the protections
for LGBT Americans as outlined in The Equality Act.”
According to a Human Right Campaign
(HRC) blog post, Symantec Corporation has also endorsed the proposed
legislation.
Symantec and Microsoft join American
Airlines, General Mills, Google, Facebook, Nike, Apple, The Dow
Chemical Company and Levi Strauss, & Co. in supporting the bill.