On July 18th, Republican Governor Greg Abbott Texas ordered a 30-day special session in in state legislature to debate a list of items of which the Texas 'bathroom bill' is high priority.
The ‘bathroom bill’ would force transgender individuals to use the bathroom that is designated for their birth gender. Disregarding their safety and identity.
Abbott aims to identify who is with him or who is against him as he claimed at the Texas Public Policy Foundation event:
I’m going to be establishing a list. You all, or other organizations, may be establishing a list. We all need to establish lists that we publish on a daily basis and call people out. Who is for this, who is against this, who has not taken a position. No one gets to hide.
Now, corporate tech giants led by IBM are taking a stance on the controversial bill. The company currently employs more than 10,000 people in Texas and has taken out full-page ads in major Texas publications urging Texas legislators to go against the bill.
The ad reads:
As one of the largest technology employers in Texas, IBM firmly opposes any measure that would harm the state's LGBT community and make it difficult for businesses to attract and retain talented Texans
They even changed their logo in protest.
IBM General Manager, Phil Gilbert said in a press conference:
It just behooves any company to really figure out, if you're going to really try to recruit the best talent and you're competing with companies that are operating in locations that do no have this type of discriminatory bills, you have to ask yourself, where are you going to grow
Other companies include Apple, Facebook, AT&T, American Airlines, and Lyft, which signed a letter opposing the bill.
It’s so nice to see that these tech companies are ready to swipe left on this matter that in 2017 we shouldn’t have to be discussing anymore.
