ExxonMobil votes against expanding pro-homosexual employment policy for the 17th time

by Kirsten Andersen

IRVING, TX, May 30, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Homosexual activists are outraged after ExxonMobil once again refused to explicitly include sexual preference in its anti-discrimination policy, marking the 17th time the company has done so.

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has led the charge to add sexual preference to the gas company’s equal opportunity policies, which currently state that individuals employed by or seeking employment with the corporation will be evaluated without regard to “race, color, sex, religion, national origin, citizenship status, age, genetic information, physical or mental disability, veteran or other legally protected status.”

ExxonMobil argues that their “zero-tolerance” standards for discrimination already exceed federal regulations and apply equally to every worker, regardless of sexual preference. The company has also offered full benefits to legally “married” same-sex couples since the Supreme Court struck down key provisions of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in 2012.

But homosexual activists say it’s not enough for ExxonMobil to simply declare all discrimination out-of-bounds: they want homosexuals and transgender people specifically highlighted as off limits.

“Over fifty years of practical experience has firmly established that there is heightened sensitivity to discrimination only when categories are enumerated,” Fred Sainz, spokesman for the pro-homosexual Human Rights Campaign, told the gay news outlet The Washington Blade. “If ExxonMobil is as committed to zero-tolerance as they claim, there’s simply no reason to have fully-inclusive policies. Until then, their commitment to equality will rightly be questioned.”

Some gay activists have called on President Barack Obama to issue an executive order forcing the company to comply with their demands.

“An executive order by President Barack Obama would force Exxon Mobil to adopt LGBT workplace protections in order to continue profiting from hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer-funded contracts,” said homosexual activist Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work. “Exxon’s leadership has rejected these common-sense nondiscrimination policies year after year, even though their competitors at Chevron and BP understand that banning discrimination is good for business. It’s time for presidential leadership to move Exxon to accept the American value that everybody deserves a fair shot in the workplace.”

ExxonMobil reports that only 19.5 percent of shareholders voted in favor of the proposal to add sexual preference to the company’s non-discrimination policy at their annual meeting Wednesday.

That’s less than last year, and continues a three-year downward trend in the number of shareholders expressing support for the move.