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Wal-Mart amends anti-discrimination employment policy for GLBT's By TONY HERYLA, Penn Contributing Writer THE PENN online
July 14, 2003
With more than 1.1 million employees in the United States, Wal-Mart Stores is the largest private employer in the country. The chain recently amended their anti-discrimination policies to include language pertaining to sexual orientation.
They join 318 other Fortune 500 companies who also ban job discrimination of gays and lesbians.
With the Supreme Court striking down Texas sodomy laws as unconstitutional two weeks ago and the recent legalization of same-sex marriages in Toronto, the Wal-Mart announcement is the third point in a hat trick of gay and lesbian civil-rights victories in the last month.
For the last two years, lobbyists from both the non-profit activist sector and Wal-Mart's own internal shareholders have been working hard to change policy at the retail giant.
The announcement to Wal-Mart's approximately 3,500 stores came as no surprise to the Oakland Avenue location in White Township.
"Personally, I feel that everyone has the right to work," said Chris Coates, 26, an assistant manager at the local outlet. "Wal-Mart has always been a place that welcomes everyone, regardless of their race, class, gender or religion, and this is no different."
It is not just about the extraordinary number of people affected by this change in guidelines that makes the Wal-Mart decision so significant, some say, but also where it's based and its target audience.
Wal-Mart calls Arkansas its home and caters to a largely middle America demographic. That a company of this nature would make such a statement about the civil rights of gays and lesbians is an important triumph in the fight for equality, according to proponents.
"Acceptance and inclusion of [Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender] peoples is becoming more and more mainstream," said Danielle Biconik (senior, sociology), the publicity chair of IUP's Pride Alliance. "In a place like Indiana where bigotry and prejudice are often commonplace, policies protecting the rights of GLBT people are important at an employer of that size."
Coates, a Johnstown resident, went on to say, "There are quite a few gay and lesbian employees at this Wal-Mart ... a lot of them in supervisory positions. They shouldn't be treated differently."
At present, 14 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation prohibiting discrimination in the work place on the basis of sexual orientation. Pennsylvania, however, joins the federal government in omitting sexual orientation from their civil-rights laws.
Wal-Mart's change in policy adds to the momentum of establishing work-place equality and could affect future consideration of such laws.
While Biconik, a Homer City native, is pleased with Wal-Mart's decision, she also recognizes that much more needs to be done.
"When a company like Wal-Mart recognizes the need to protect its GLBT employees, you know America is really waking up," Biconik said. "But this is just a small step on the road to establishing true equality."
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