Snippet: Apple Wields Its Lobbying Might Against LGBTQ Laws ☇

Emily Birnbaum for Politico (via Nick Heer):

Apple is quietly mobilizing its vast resources to lobby against anti-LGBTQ legislation proliferating across the country — an unusual push by one of the world’s most valuable companies into a consequential political debate. […]

Apple’s senior director of corporate communications, Fred Sainz, this month pressed leaders of fellow Fortune 500 companies to denounce an order by the Texas governor that called for child abuse investigations of parents who provide transgender children with gender-affirming care despite opposition from doctors.

“I’m reaching out from Apple because we’re hoping you’ll join us and lend your company’s name to a critical issue,” wrote Sainz, who was formerly the vice president of communications and marketing at the HRC, in an email to his corporate affairs counterparts on March 5.

“Apple has joined the effort and will lend its name and logo,” Sainz said in the email, obtained by POLITICO. “I’m reaching out because we are hoping you will too.” Ultimately, 60 other organizations signed on to the letter, which was published in The Dallas Morning News on March 11.

I’m not a fan of lobbying in general, and it’s frustrating how it’s become such an integral part in American politics. However, with so many proposed laws aimed squarely at the LGBTQI+ community, I think it’s good that Apple is getting involved. All too often, we see companies change their social media avatar to something rainbow-themed in June and then funnel money into the pockets of lawmakers pushing anti-LGBTQI+ legislation.

From a business standpoint, companies that have found themselves with presences in these states need to fight back—they contribute to the local economy and their employees live there. If you’re in a place where the laws and climate actively drive people away, let alone squarely hate a specific part of the population, how can you attract and retain talent?