Apple and over 40 U.S. companies have signed a letter opposing several "anti-LGBTQ" legislation bills currently being considered in courts across the country (via AL.com).
The open letter, drafted by the Human Rights Campaign and published Wednesday, argues that measures proposed in the bills would harm LGBT staff and negatively impact the companies that employ them.
"These bills would harm our team members and their families, stripping them of opportunities and making them feel unwelcome and at risk in their own communities," the letter states. "As such, it can be exceedingly difficult for us to recruit the most qualified candidates for jobs in states that pursue such laws, and these measures can place substantial burdens on the families of our employees who already reside in these states."
[...]
"America's business community has consistently communicated to lawmakers at every level that such laws have a negative effect on our employees, our customers, our competitiveness, and state and national economies."
The letter is signed by tech giants Apple, Amazon, AT&T, Dropbox, Google, IBM, Lyft, Microsoft, PayPal, Salesforce and Uber, along with many other major corporations including Capital One, Ikea, Levi Strauss, Marriott International, Nike, Danone North America, Mars, Nestle USA and Unilever.
Apple has taken a strong position on inclusion and equality under CEO Tim Cook's watch. In 2015, Apple joined 378 other companies urging the Supreme Court to rule in favor of marriage equality. More recently, Apple argued for LGBT worker protections in a 2019 joint amicus filing with the U.S. Supreme Court.
Cook has consistently pushed for inclusion and diversity, which Apple refers to as its "greatest strength" on its website. "To create products that serve everyone, we believe in including everyone."
Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.
Top Stories
Apple Acquires Weather App Dark Sky
Zoom Accused of Misleading Users With 'End-to-End Encryption' Claims Amid Other Security Issues [Updated]
Case for Upcoming Low-Cost iPhone Shows Up at Best Buy With Alleged April 5 Stock Date
Bloomberg: Apple's 5G iPhone Still on Schedule for Fall Launch, But Future Products Could Be Delayed
Testing Brydge's New Pro+ Keyboard With Trackpad for iPad Pro
Apple's Work on New Upcoming Products Progressing Normally as Employees Adjust to Telecommuting
Apple Releases ProRes RAW Beta for Windows
Apple Configurator 2 Updated With New Features, Including Support for Restoring Firmware on 2019 Mac Pro
Seemingly Unreleased Version of Logic Pro X With Live Loops Appears on Apple's Education Site [Updated]
Top Rated Comments
(View all)Some prevent Boys who identify as girls, from competing against Girls in sports. So we don't have what we are seeing now, become the norm.
Some prevent Doctors from giving per-pubescent (ie. children) drugs that prevent adolescent hormones; thus preventing the person from naturally entering puberty. Such drugs can lead to life-long sterility, psychological, and biological disorders. We DO NOT KNOW all the future ramifications of intentionally interfering with a naturally occurring life stage (ie. adolescence). We do know that permanent sterility is a very likely scenario.
Now, a child cannot buy a home, sign a contract, get married, or enter into any legally binding arrangement - because they are a CHILD. But, they can, and are wise enough to make the decision to PERMANENTLY alter their bodies, before legal adulthood, or even entering puberty - and this is apparently offensive to people?
How about let their bodies reach maturation - then mutilate it any way you want to; when are are a legal adult, when it's entirely YOUR decision, and not when you are pressured by one parent or the other. Seems like sanity to me.
Happy that Apple and the others aren’t afraid to take a stand. If companies and executives want to make people’s lives better and allow them to have more opportunities, I’m all for it.
These companies can make their profits AND speak on social issues as well.
Perhaps MacRumors can provide more information.