As the 2013-2014 school year inches closer, retailers are pulling out all of the stops to attract back-to-school shoppers. For parents and guardians who want to practice conscious shopping choices, factoring in which stores and brands are LGBT-friendly is a daunting task.
As a record number of retail outlets and brands have added their names to the list of LGBT-friendly places for both employees and shoppers (by adopting corporate policies that are LGBT inclusive and speaking out in support of LGBT legislation throughout the United States), there are still places that are not LGBT-friendly.
Of the major retailers with stores in Chicago, many have a 100-percent score from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC). According to HRC, "a record 252 businesses nationwide achieved a perfect score of 100 percent and 2013 saw the largest growth in the survey's history with 54 new businesses participating."
Although the number of companies with LGBT-friendly policies is climbing each year, there are many that either actively discriminate against LGBT people or haven't filled out the HRC Corporate Equality Index (CEI) survey.
The 2013 HRC Buying for Workplace Equality Guide—the guide is a concentrated version of the CEI survey—is divided into three categories; green, yellow and red. Companies on the green list are the most inclusive with scores between 80 and 100 percent. Yellow companies are in the middle with scores between 46 and 79 percent and red companies have workplace equality scores between 0 and 45 percent.
According to HRC, "the businesses/brands that have not responded to the survey despite repeated attempts have been provided with an unofficial, estimated score based on publicly available information that has been collected." All of those businesses fall within the red category.
The criteria that HRC uses to rate each company includes their equal employment opportunity policies are: 15 percent each for sexual orientation and gender identity and expression; employment benefits—15 percent for equivalent spousal and partner medical benefits; 10 percent for parity between employees with different-sex spouses and same-sex spouses for things like bereavement leave, supplemental life insurance, adoption assistance, joint and survivor annuity for partners, retiree health care benefits et al.; and 10 percent for transgender-inclusive health insurance coverage; organizational LGBT competency—10 percent for competency training, resources or accountability measures and 10 percent for either an LGBT employee group or a diversity council; public commitment—15 percent for at least three LGBT specific efforts including recruiting, supplier diversity, marketing or advertising, philanthropy or public support for LGBT equality under the law. Companies that fail to demonstrate responsible citizenship and also undermine LGBT equality receive a negative 25 percent score that is subtracted from their overall score. The only company that received a -25 score this year was Exxon/Mobile.
So where should parents and guardians who want to support LGBT-friendly establishments shop for their kids new backpacks, lunch bags, school supplies, clothes and shoes?
The retail establishments that achieved a 100-percent score are Nordstrom, Kmart/Sears/Lands End, Best Buy, TJX (Home Goods, Marshalls, TJ Maxx), Gap/Old Navy/Banana Republic, Abercrombie & Fitch, Nike, Levi-Strauss, Limited Brands (Bath and Body Works, Victoria's Secret, White Barn Candles and others), Apple, Office Depot, Staples, Walgreens, Barnes & Nobel, Jewel/Osco and Target (but some people are boycotting the latter company for support of anti-gay political candidates).
Other retail outlets that fell within the green category include three stores that received a 95 percent; J.C. Penny, and American Eagle. The retail stores that received a 90 percent include Macys/Bloomingdales, Costco, Carson Pirie Scott, Office Max, Amazon.com, and REI. The other store within the green category include Dominick's with 85 percent.
A number of retail stores fell within the yellow category. Aeropostale received a 75-percent score. The stores that received a 70-percent score include Overstock.com and the Jones Group (Anne Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt, Nine West and others). L.L. Bean received a 65 percent score while Wal-Mart/Sam's Club, CVS, and PVH (Bass, Calvin Klein, IZOD, Tommy Hilfiger and others) received a 60-percent score. Rounding out the yellow category is H&M with a score of 55 percent.
Only a few retail stores (with the exception of the companies that didn't fill out the survey) had scores in the red category. They are Dollar General with a 45 percent score, Brown Shoe (Famous Footwear, Naturalizer, Dr. Scholl's, Avia and others) with a 35-percent score and Meijer with a 25-percent score.
Many retail stores that haven't filled out the survey have estimated scores between 30 and 0 percent. These stores include Ann Taylor, Bed Bath & Beyond, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Radio Shack, Trader Joes, J Crew, Children's Place, Kohl's, Michaels, Container Store, Urban Outfitters, Adidas, Burberry, Collective Brands (Keds, Payless, Saucony and others), Donna Karan, Foot Locker, Nieman Marcus, Guess, VF (JanSport, Nautica, The North Face, Timberland, Vans and others), Chico's, Fossil, Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci, Saks Fifth Avenue and Versace.
See www.hrc.org/apps/buyersguide/index.php for more information.
