{"id":55485,"date":"2017-08-14T14:00:31","date_gmt":"2017-08-14T18:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/texas-and-american-business-leaders-call-for-gov-abbott-to-reject-his-special-discrimination-session\/"},"modified":"2017-08-14T14:00:31","modified_gmt":"2017-08-14T18:00:31","slug":"texas-and-american-business-leaders-call-for-gov-abbott-to-reject-his-special-discrimination-session","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/texas-and-american-business-leaders-call-for-gov-abbott-to-reject-his-special-discrimination-session\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas and American business leaders call for Gov. Abbott to reject his “special discrimination session”"},"content":{"rendered":"

Texas and American business leaders call<\/a> for Gov. Abbott to reject his “special discrimination session”<\/b><\/p>\n

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NEW YORK \u2013\u00a0<\/strong>GLAAD, the world\u2019s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today highlighted the massive opposition to Texas Governor Greg Abbott\u2019s \u201cspecial discrimination session\u201d agenda targeting transgender Texans, including legislation that would bar them from public accommodations in accordance with their gender identity. This anti-LGBTQ agenda is opposed<\/a>\u00a0by the majority of Texans and has been\u00a0vocally rejected<\/a>\u00a0by more than 50 Fortune\u00a0500 companies.\u00a0Estimates show that, if passed, the so-called “bathroom\u00a0bill” could\u00a0drain $3.3 billion and 35,600 jobs<\/a>\u00a0from the Texas economy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“With Fortune 500 companies now joining the near universal opposition against efforts to pass a so-called \u2018bathroom bill,\u2019 it is time for Governor Greg Abbott to put his discriminatory ‘special discrimination session’ to an end,” said Sarah Kate Ellis, President and CEO of GLAAD.<\/strong> “By pushing his anti-LGBTQ agenda, Gov. Abbott is cementing his legacy as turning Texas into a state that puts its own well-being at risk in order to harm its most marginalized citizens.”<\/p>\n

Since the start of this year, GLAAD has been on the ground fighting the onslaught of anti-LGBTQ legislation in Texas. GLAAD coordinated with Equality Texas and Texas Freedom Network this spring to hold numerous \u201cStudents Against Hate<\/a>\u201d rallies on college campuses across the state where Texans came together to share their voice and fight back against the anti-LGBTQ bills being perused at the Texas Capitol. Further, GLAAD has held accountable the many\u00a0anti-LGBTQ groups and activists<\/a>\u00a0who have lobbied for this hateful legislation by sending background information to the media on the anti-LGBTQ history of each organization.<\/p>\n

GLAAD also teamed up with Equality Texas, The Ally Coalition, and more than 160 leading artists, entertainers, and influencers to release an\u00a0open letter opposing anti-LGBTQ bills<\/a>, including the so-called \u201cbathroom bill,\u201d that threatened to harm LGBTQ Texas.<\/p>\n

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Fortune 500 Companies, Tech Leaders, Travel Companies, and Sports Teams against the \u201cbathroom bill\u201d<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Fortune 500 Companies:<\/u><\/strong>
Amazon<\/a>
Advanced Micro Devices<\/a>
Alliance Data Systems<\/a>
American Airlines<\/a>
Applied Materials
Apple<\/a>
Arconic<\/a>
Airbnb<\/a>
AT&T<\/a>
Baker Hughes<\/a>
BlackRock<\/a>
Calpine Corporation<\/a>
Capital One<\/a>
Celanese Corp.<\/a>
CenterPoint Energy
Chevron North America E&P<\/a>
Cisco<\/a>
Citi<\/a>
ConocoPhillips<\/a>
Dell Technologies<\/a>
Dow Chemical<\/a>
eBay<\/a>
The Estee Lauder Companies<\/a>
ExxonMobil<\/a>
Facebook<\/a>
Fluor<\/a>
Frito-Lay (PepsiCo)<\/a>
Google<\/a>
Group 1 Automotive<\/a>
Halliburton<\/a>
Hewlett Packard Enterprise<\/a>
Hilton<\/a>
HP<\/a>
IBM<\/a>
Intel
InterContinental Hotels Group<\/a>
JPMorgan Chase & Co.<\/a>
Kimberly-Clark<\/a>
MAC Cosmetics<\/a>
Marriott International<\/a>
Microsoft Corp.<\/a>
NIKE<\/a>
PayPal<\/a>
Qualcomm<\/a>
Quanta Services<\/a>
Salesforce<\/a>
Service Corporation International<\/a>
Southwest Airlines<\/a>
Superior Energy Services<\/a>
T. Rowe Price Associates<\/a>
Tenet Healthcare
Texas Instruments<\/a>
United Airlines<\/a>
Visa<\/a><\/p>\n

Tech Companies:<\/u><\/strong>
Atmos Energy Corporation<\/a>
Dropbox<\/a>
Gearbox Software<\/a>
Google Fiber<\/a>
Group of 38 Austin Area Tech Startups<\/a>
GSD&M<\/a>
Lyft<\/a>
PayPal<\/a>
Rackspace<\/a>
Silicon Labs<\/a>
TechNet
TEKVOX<\/a>
Under Armour<\/a><\/p>\n

Travel Companies:<\/u><\/strong>
ABH Hotels<\/a>
Choice Hotels<\/a>
Dallas\/Fort Worth International Airport<\/a>
InterContinental Hotels Group<\/a>
La Quinta Inns & Suites
Marriott International<\/a>
Surf Airlines<\/a>
SXSW<\/a><\/p>\n

SportsTeams\/Organizations: <\/u><\/strong>
Dallas Cowboys<\/a> (behind the scenes)
Dallas Stars<\/a>
Women\u2019s Sports Foundation<\/a><\/p>\n

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August 14, 2017<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Issues:\u00a0<\/div>\n