Amazon Erases LGBTQ Rights Support from Website
The Washington Post.Prior to late December, Amazon’s website said that the company stood “in solidarity” with Black employees and customers, and supported “legislation to combat misconduct and racial bias in policing, efforts to protect and expand voting rights, and initiatives that provide better health and educational outcomes for Black people.”The paragraph containing those statements has been removed.Also gone from the website are statements expressing support for federal and state-level laws guaranteeing legal protections for transgender people and bragging about the company’s health benefits for transgender employees.One since-deleted statement noted that Amazon provided “gender transition benefits based on the Standards of Care published by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH).”Amazon’s removal of the section on gender-affirming health care benefits has led some employees to fret about possibly losing insurance coverage for any form of gender-affirming care in the future as the company appears to be distancing itself from pro-LGBTQ workplace policies.
A company spokesperson told the Post that Amazon still offers those benefits.Other statements that have been removed from Amazon’s website had to do with pro-diversity efforts, initiatives, or pro-LGBTQ public policy positions, such as support for federal legislation like the Equality Act.In its place, the company says it is “committed to creating a diverse and inclusive company that helps us build the best range of products and services for our broad customer base.”Additionally, the company’s “diversity, equity and inclusion” section has been updated to say that “inequitable treatment of anyone — including Black people, LGBTQ+ people, Asians, women, and others — is unacceptable.”While the company’s website still mentions support for equal pay between genders and partnerships with “small and diverse” businesses, it has eliminated language about pro-inclusion efforts, replacing it.
