© 2024 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Kansas, Missouri Companies Recognized In Annual LGBT Corporate Rankings

Wikipedia -- Creative Commons

The Human Rights Campaign, a national lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender organization, on Wednesday released its annual Corporate Equality Index, which measures policies regarding LGBT inclusion at 851 of the nation's largest companies.

HRC ranks companies by giving them points based on several criteria, such as whether they have non-discrimination policies, whether those policies cover gender identity, whether they offer full health benefits to transgender employees, and whether they have publicly supported LGBT equality.

The metro's rankings:

"Corporate America has long been a leader on LGBT equality, from advocating for marriage equality to expanding essential benefits to transgender employees," HRC President Chad Griffin said in the organization's news release.

In separate reports, the group also tracks the climates in states, and by those criteria Kansas and Missouri are far behind corporate America.

HRC released its most recent State Equality Index in 2014, before the U.S. Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationally this summer. But rankings on the organization's website note both states' lack of ordinances protecting LGBT from discrimination in employment and public accommodations and other criteria in Kansas and Missouri.

C.J. Janovy is an arts reporter at KCUR.  You can reach her on Twitter @cjjanovy.

A free press is among our country’s founding principles and most precious resources. As director of content-journalism at KCUR, I want everyone in our part of America to know we see them and we’re listening. I work to make sure the stories we tell and the conversations we convene reflect our complex realities, informing and inspiring all of us to meet the profound challenges of our time. Email me at cj@kcur.org.
KCUR serves the Kansas City region with breaking news and award-winning podcasts.
Your donation helps keep nonprofit journalism free and available for everyone.