That's the title of this essay by Joe Solmonese, the president of the Human Rights Campaign. He points out that for the first time, a majority of Fortune 500 companies are now offering domestic partner health insurance benefits to their employees. Here are some excerpts:
"The private sector continues to be far ahead of the political debate. While elected officials continue to dwell on the "politics" of equal protections and rights, business leaders are encouraging fairness for their employees."
"America's workplaces and schools are a microcosm of the country. They are places where people from different walks of life -- all religions, races, income levels, sexual orientations and gender identities -- are thrown together and told to make it work. They're doing just that and these policies and benefits are helping employers and employees succeed."
"Unfortunately, many political leaders are far behind business leaders in promoting and implementing fair and equitable policies for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans. Sadly, we see some politicians attacking our families and exploiting anti-gay prejudice for political purposes -- which results in fueling that prejudice and dividing our country."
The comments posted on this piece are also worth reading and span a wide range of viewpoints.
You make a good point. There is a big difference between political goals vs. those of enterprise.
ReplyDeleteThe New Yorker recently made a similar observation and used the governing body of World Cup as its example.
"Why, when global governing bodies have such noble aims, are the results so consistently bad? One answer is suggested by a school of thought known as public-choice economics, propounded in the nineteen-fifties largely by conservative economists seeking to explain why government doesn’t work as well as we expect it to."
"Public-choice economists emphasize the importance of self-interest in shaping behavior, showing that bureaucrats are often more interested in protecting and expanding their power than in looking after the common good. And they focus on the role of interest groups, suggesting that governing bodies typically make decisions based on well-organized lobbying and personal connections."
Same goes for our government and the fight for gay rights!
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Talitha,
ReplyDeleteSmall world. I also went to Harvard on the Pike before finishing up at U of Maryland. I think Montgomery County is one of the more GLBT friendly areas south of Mass.