Tech-sector CEOs showed they weren’t afraid to defy the president by mounting a legal response to his controversial immigration ban. Now, dozens of them have rallied in defense of a 17-year-old Virginian high-school student who identifies as transgender.
Apple, Microsoft and IBM are among 53 companies that lodged a friend-of-the-court brief on Thursday supporting Gavin Grimm, who is challenging a Gloucester County School Board decision to block the female-born student, who identifies as male, from using the boys bathroom.
Their support comes after the president last week rescinded Obama administration guidance to public schools to let transgender students use bathrooms aligned to their gender identity.
Signatories also include Amazon, Intel, Salesforce, Twitter and Yahoo. A few companies outside the tech sector also are involved, including clothing retailer Gap and Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance.
Many American companies, both inside and outside of Silicon Valley, promote diversity as a harbinger of innovation, claiming that it helps them gain new perspectives and attract talent. In the court brief, the companies noted that many of their customers and staff are transgender, while expressing concern “about the stigmatizing and degrading effects” of the Gloucester County policy.
“Gender identity discrimination is a form of sex discrimination,” they said. A main point of contention to be addressed in the court case is whether federal law intended to prevent sex discrimination in schools covers transgender students.
United Therapeutics founder and CEO Martine Rothblatt, who is transgender, filed a separate court brief arguing discrimination could prevent talented students from reaching their potential.
“Right now, in classrooms around the United States, there are transgender students who have the potential to create a new technology that will transform an industry, to found a company that will develop a treatment for a previously intractable disease,” Rothblatt said.
Several other CEOs have spoken frequently about transgender rights, including Salesforce’s Mark Benioff and Apple’s Tim Cook. Last April, when several states were passing bathroom segregation legislation on religious grounds, department store chain Target announced that it would allow staff and customers to use bathrooms corresponding to their gender identity.
“All children are created equal & need unconditional love. All deserve freedom from fear, anxiety & threats of discrimination. Love 1&all,” Benioff wrote on Twitter last week.
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1:00 - 5:00 pm
Over 70% of Executives Surveyed Agree: Many Strategic Planning Efforts Lack Systematic Approach Tips for Enhancing Your Strategic Planning Process
Executives expressed frustration with their current strategic planning process. Issues include:
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2:00 - 5:00 pm
Female leaders face the same issues all leaders do, but they often face additional challenges too. In this peer session, we will facilitate a discussion of best practices and how to overcome common barriers to help women leaders be more effective within and outside their organizations.
Limited space available.
10:30 - 5:00 pm
General’s Retreat at Hermitage Golf Course
Sponsored by UBS
General’s Retreat, built in 1986 with architect Gary Roger Baird, has been voted the “Best Golf Course in Nashville” and is a “must play” when visiting the Nashville, Tennessee area. With the beautiful setting along the Cumberland River, golfers of all capabilities will thoroughly enjoy the golf, scenery and hospitality.
The golf outing fee includes transportation to and from the hotel, greens/cart fees, use of practice facilities, and boxed lunch. The bus will leave the hotel at 10:30 am for a noon shotgun start and return to the hotel after the cocktail reception following the completion of the round.
