Verizon: A Champion for LGBTQ Rights Every Day

Every June, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBTQ) members of the Verizon team join communities across the U.S. to celebrate Pride month. It’s one of many moments throughout the year we recognize the power in our diversity. 

“As national president of Globe of Verizon, I am proud to work for a company where we can truly experience a strong sense of belonging in the company as LGBTQ employees,” said Mario Acosta-Velez. “We are not just celebrated for who we are, but also encouraged to unite our community and build a culture around love and acceptance.”

Verizon’s Credo guides our employees on how to reinforce an inclusive workplace culture that helps us meet the needs of our diverse customer base. The Credo states “We embrace diversity and personal development not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also because it’s smart business.” This is a fundamental principle of who we are and how we work. One way we live this ideal is by implementing business practices that support workplace equality for LGBTQ employees.

Verizon continues to demonstrate leadership by reinforcing its commitment to policies important to the LGBTQ community.

• This year, we endorsed the Equality Act, an important bill that prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity in areas including public accommodations and facilities, education, federal funding, employment, housing, credit, and the jury system.
• We opposed state bills that are discriminatory against LGBTQ individuals. Verizon senior executives signed a Joint Statement from Tech Industry Leaders highlighting diversity, fairness and equality as integral values to our industry.  We also joined Georgia Prospers, a business coalition that opposed anti-LGBTQ state legislation. 
• We joined the Human Rights Campaign’s Equality is Our Business statement, along with dozens of major U.S. businesses expressing opposition to discriminatory bills and emphasizing support for equality.
• We joined more than 300 major U.S. corporations in submitting a “friend of the court” brief in support of marriage equality in Obergefell v. Hodges, a case in which the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled that all states must make marriage equally available to all citizens and recognize existing same-sex marriages.
• We provide LGBTQ-inclusive HR benefits such as same-sex couple adoption benefits which have helped many employees, like Daniel Richani and Craig Cadogan, fulfill their dream of adopting children. 

Craig Silliman, Verizon General Counsel and GLOBE Executive Champion stated, “Having employees with diverse backgrounds and experiences enriches our culture and helps us meet the needs of our increasingly diverse customers. We want laws throughout the U.S. to ensure that such diversity can thrive.”

Embracing workplace equality and inclusion has always been at the core of our culture, and we will continue to support LGBTQ equality across our company and within the communities we serve.

• Verizon has been a long-term corporate partner to many national and local LGBTQ support groups such as Out and Equal, Point Foundation, LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce, Human Rights Campaign,  LGBTQ Technology Institute, National Queer Asian Pacific Alliance, Lavender Law Conference, SMYAL, Hetrick-Martin Institute New Jersey, PLAG, and Long Island Gay and Lesbian Youth, Inc.
• In 2018 and in 2019, we launched a national campaign, called Connected by Pride.  The campaign, in partnership with PFLAG National, aimed to help extend a support network of more than 400 chapters and to unite LGBTQ youth and their families through love and acceptance.
• In 2017, GLOBE of Verizon was recognized by Out and Equal as a finalist for the LGBTQ ERG of the Year at the Workplace Summit.
• In 2016, The Washington, D.C. Capital Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce honored Verizon with its Corporate Ally of the Year Award.

As we start this year’s Pride season, we celebrate Verizon and our employees as champions for LGBTQ rights every day.

Learn more about diversity and inclusion at Verizon