Texas and American business leaders call for Gov. Abbott to reject his "special discrimination session"

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Texas and American business leaders call for Gov. Abbott to reject his “special discrimination session”

NEW YORK – GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, today highlighted the massive opposition to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s “special discrimination session” 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 by the majority of Texans and has been vocally rejected by more than 50 Fortune 500 companies. Estimates show that, if passed, the so-called “bathroom bill” could drain $3.3 billion and 35,600 jobs from the Texas economy.

“With Fortune 500 companies now joining the near universal opposition against efforts to pass a so-called ‘bathroom bill,’ 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. “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.”

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 “Students Against Hate” 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 anti-LGBTQ groups and activists who have lobbied for this hateful legislation by sending background information to the media on the anti-LGBTQ history of each organization.

GLAAD also teamed up with Equality Texas, The Ally Coalition, and more than 160 leading artists, entertainers, and influencers to release an open letter opposing anti-LGBTQ bills, including the so-called “bathroom bill,” that threatened to harm LGBTQ Texas.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Fortune 500 Companies, Tech Leaders, Travel Companies, and Sports Teams against the “bathroom bill”

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