ExxonMobil employees are slamming their company for prohibiting workers from flying the gay pride flag outside their offices during June, which is Pride Month.
The company’s Pride employee resource group disagreed with the decision to remove the pride flag from the allowed paraphernalia in new companywide guidance, with Houston-based employees saying they would not support the company for the city’s Pride celebration, according to an email viewed by Bloomberg.
“Flying a Pride flag is one small way many corporations choose to visibly show their care, inclusion and support for the LGBTQ+ employees,” the employee group said, adding that it is “impactful” especially for employees who aren’t yet out or are not comfortable attending Pride events.
US EMBASSY TO THE VATICAN FLIES GAY PRIDE FLAG FOR MONTH OF JUNE
The year before, “corporate leadership took exception to a rainbow flag being flown at our facilities,” the group wrote in its email. “PRIDE was informed the justification was centered on the need for the corporation to maintain neutrality.'”
“It is difficult to reconcile how ExxonMobil recognizes the value of promoting our corporation as supportive of the LGBTQ+ community externally (e.g. advertisements, Pride parades, social media posts) but now believes it inappropriate to visibly show support for our LGBTQ+ employees at the workplace,” the group wrote.
ExxonMobil’s updated guidance also prohibits the Black Lives Matter flag from being flown, according to the outlet.
The new guidance does not intend to undermine ExxonMobil’s “commitment to diversity,” the company said.
“The updated flag protocol is intended to clarify the use of the ExxonMobil branded company flag and not intended to diminish our commitment to diversity and support for employee resource groups,” Tracey Gunnlaugsson, the vice president of human resources, said in a statement, according to the outlet.
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Advocacy groups have been especially eager to display pro-LGBT paraphernalia ever since Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill, commonly referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by opponents despite those words not appearing in the text, into law.
The Washington Examiner reached out to ExxonMobil for a statement but did not receive a response back.
