Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook employees celebrated the San Francisco LGBT pride parade from a decorated trolley today, as tech companies across the country very visibly supported equal rights. According to the Wall Street Journal, Facebook had over 700 employees at pride, and Google had over 1,400, around 40% more than last year.
This year’s Pride was particularly joyous, as it came just days after the Supreme Court ruled that the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is unconstitutional; the act denied federal benefits to gay couples who were legally married in states that allowed it.
This support is a big deal, but what’s most encouraging to me is that most of the posts I saw today, especially from college friends, didn’t talk about these companies’ support as a big deal at all; it seemed more like the fulfillment of an expectation.
Now, just having fair employment practices isn’t enough. Tech companies, and others, are showing their public support at celebrations like Pride with big team outings that build team cohesiveness and celebrate the company. Those who don’t could be seen as not supporting LGBT employees and could be hurt in recruiting talent.
Like last year, tech companies celebrated across the country:
We just had a great time walking in the San Francisco #Pride Parade! #EAPride13 pic.twitter.com/s8JrUnu7YV
— Electronic Arts (@EA) June 30, 2013
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Happy SF #Pride weekend! Come by the @Zynga booth at Grove/Larkin to snag an Uber beach ball or tank! #RideWithPride pic.twitter.com/sSarBIdjmS
— Uber San Francisco (@Uber_SF) June 29, 2013
Accept people everywhere. #pride pic.twitter.com/wSwHiXKJR2
— Jack Dorsey (@jack) June 28, 2013
Well done Facebook #pride pic.twitter.com/qcv82AgP8F
— Bailey Richardson (@baileyelaine) June 24, 2013
The Xbox team marched with a neat float in Seattle:
And some Uber folks rolled in style, also at Seattle Pride:
Featured image courtesy of Marina Zhao.
