Google, Apple, and Facebook have once again shared their support for the LGBTQ community. Chief executives of all three tech giants on Monday praised a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that protects LGBTQ workers.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Apple CEO Tim Cook both tweeted their gratitude for the ruling, both mentioning support for their respective companies' LGBTQ employees. Meanwhile, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg used his own platform to share his support for the new Supreme court ruling.
"The LGBTQ+ community deserves fair and equal treatment just like everyone else, and I'm glad our highest court has affirmed those rights, said Zuckerberg in a post on Monday.
Google is set to donate $1.2 million to 70 LGBTQ organizations around the globe and an additional $1.2 million to The Trevor Project, the largest crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ youth in America. The search giant made the announcement on Monday.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme court ruled that firing an employee or worker because of their gender identity or sexual orientation is against the law. With the ruling, those who identify as LGBTQ are now protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which illegalizes discrimination no matter the national origin, color, religion, race, and sex.
Despite facing issues about privacy and content curation, tech companies are one in pushing the rights of its LGBTQ workers. Google, Apple, Facebook, and other 200 companies signed a "friend of the court" brief in 2019 for the Supreme Court to acknowledge that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes sexual orientation and gender identity. In brief, the companies argued that not providing protection for employees that identify as LGBTQ would negatively impact the economy of the U.S.
Earlier this year, the biggest names in tech, including Amazon, Microsoft, Apple, Google, and 40 other companies, published an open letter to express their concern about legislation in the U.S. that could negatively impact those in the LGBTQ community.
The letter explains that it's difficult to recruit employees in states that have such legislation, and that it would place a burden on the families of those employees affected by it.
The tech giants' support for the new ruling comes after the massive protests against discrimination and racism, triggered by the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died late May after a white police officer pinned him to the ground with a knee to the neck.
