The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston, in a unanimous and bipartisan decision, ruled that the federal law defining legal marriage as only between a man and a woman deprives same-sex couples of the same rights heterosexual couples have when receiving federal benefits, including filing joint federal tax returns.

The court did not address the controversial issue of whether states that have not approved same-sex marriages must recognize them.

Read history and facts about DOMA from the Human Rights Campaign.

Obama & Black Community Support

The momentum on this issue shifted dramatically last month when President Barack Obama finally publicly declared his support of same-sex marriage. To further support that announcement, the Justice Department did not intercede in the Boston decision in favor of DOMA, as it has done in the past.

What’s important in the days since Obama’s declaration is the growing support of same-sex marriage in the Black community. The NAACP, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and other Black leaders have come out in support of marriage equality.

“I’m particularly heartened by the announcement from the NAACP. There’s a new realization that we’re all in this together and that nobody should be discriminated against,” says retired U.S. Navy Captain Joan Darrah, a former board member of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. Darrah was a leader in the fight to end the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy in the military and is part of a continuing legal battle to give partners of gay and lesbian service members equal military benefits.

Darrah sees the momentum shifting on the federal level, although she thinks it could be a long battle to get some states—including Virginia, where she lives with her partner—to change.

Creating an Inclusive Culture

If your organization isn’t supportive of equality for everyone, here are some tips garnered from the DiversityInc Top 50 on how to build an inclusive workplace.

• Require cultural-competence diversity training. Mandatory training that includes factual, educational information on LGBT groups is a must. Eighty-six percent of The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity now require diversity training for their managers, compared with 78 percent five years ago. Sixty-eight percent require diversity training for their entire workforces, compared with 58 percent five years ago. Read DiversityInc’s LGBT Pride Facts & Figures, which you can use for educational purposes. Click here information on our diversity-training courses.
• Use your resource groups to create more inclusive workplaces. Your LGBT resource group is a great start. Make sure its name includes the word “friends,” “allies” or “straight” so people who are not LGBT or are not out are comfortable joining. Ensure that members of this resource group are included in prominent roles in company events and publications, that they meet frequently with senior leaders, and that they set up company-wide educational programs. Read Our Analysis of the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.
• Maintain a “no-tolerance-for-bigotry” policy for everyone. Core diversity-management values are essential to an organization, emanating from the very top. Those values must include an absolute adherence to diversity and inclusion for everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, religious background, disability and, especially, orientation. Read Diversity Management 101 and The Four Stages of Diversity Management.

–Barbara Frankel

The post Ruling Against Defense of Marriage Act Is Major Diversity Victory appeared first on DiversityInc.

The California Appeals Court decision striking down Proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage, is an important legal and moral victory for marriage-equality supporters, including several corporations.

The intersection of corporate values and business decisions has increased substantially in recent years at progressive companies. In California, companies that have fought against Proposition 8 in support of their LGBT employees and customers include Cisco.

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision declaring Proposition 8 illegal is narrow in scope, only affecting California, and is going to be appealed to the Supreme Court. That gives the high court a chance to finally resolve this issue and remedy a serious inequity in the current societal structure. Proposition 8 was a ballot measure approved by California voters in 2008 after courts allowed same-sex marriage in that state.

Six states and the District of Columbia now have legalized same-sex marriage, most recently New York last summer. The other states are Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. As of February 8, legalization of same-sex marriage also is pending in Washington.

The Importance of Corporate Support

A number of corporations have actively joined the battle for LGBT equality, recognizing that to have inclusive workplaces, no group can be excluded.

Corporate support of LGBT rights has included the battle against the Defense of Marriage Act in Indiana, led by companies such as Eli Lilly, WellPoint and Cummins, Nos. 39, 36 and 18, respectively, in The 2011 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity. It has included advocacy for ENDA, the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, supported by corporations including DiversityInc Top 50 companies Kaiser Permanente (No. 1), Ernst & Young (No. 5), IBM (No. 7), Bank of America (No. 11), The Coca-Cola Company (No. 12),  Merck & Co. (No. 15),  Accenture (No. 23), KPMG (No. 29), Dell (No. 30), Time Warner (No. 28), Eli Lilly, WellPoint and Whirlpool (No. 49), as well as DiversityInc 25 Noteworthy Companies BASF, Boehringer Ingelheim, Capital One, Chubb, KeyCorp and Pfizer, and also companies such as Eastman Kodak Company, Ameriprise Financial and General Motors.      

DiversityInc is also a strong supporter of LGBT rights. No company can earn a spot on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list if it does not offer same-sex domestic-partner benefits. This year, in light of the Human Rights Campaign’s revised Corporate Equality Index benefits, any company receiving less than an 80 percent rating on the index will be penalized in its DiversityInc Top 50 scoring. Companies that do not receive a 100 percent rating will be ineligible for The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees list.

For a discussion of the critical importance of values in corporate decision making, please read DiversityInc CEO Luke Visconti’s Ask the White Guy: Decision Making, Clarity of Values & What to Do When It Goes Horribly Wrong.

What Everyone Said

Here are links to commentaries on the court ruling and its ramifications:

Federal Appeals Court Agrees: California’s Proposition 8 Is Unconstitutional
Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese comments on the ruling and its impact.

Prop. 8: Ruling to have limited effect outside California
L.A. Times’ blog discusses how the ruling will have limited effect outside California because it is based on voter repeal of a right a minority already enjoyed.

Prop. 8: California’s same-sex marriage ban ruled unconstitutional
University of Pennsylvania Law School Professor Tobias Barrington Wolff says the unique circumstances giving rise to the ban’s passage could prompt the 9th Circuit panel to strike down Proposition 8 without addressing if banning gay marriage would be constitutional in the eight other states in its territory.

BREAKING: Proposition 8 ruled unconstitutional by 9th Circuit panel
Contains links for detailed historical info on Proposition 8 and some projections, plus the full ruling.

Prop 8 Ruling Will Be a Political Disaster for Romney and the GOP
U.S. News & World Report assesses the ruling’s impact on the Republican presidential race.

Ninth Circuit Decision Keeps the Focus on California
The legal director and the senior staff attorney for the National Center for Lesbian Rights analyze legal implications.

Anti-Gay Proposition 8 Once Again Ruled Unconstitutional
GLAAD Acting President Mike Thompson applauds the ruling and references research showing that the majority of Americans now support gay marriage.

Proposition 8: What Happens Next?
A news site speculates the next steps in Proposition 8 appeals and if the case will make it to the Supreme Court.

Pledge Support for Marriage Equality
View the case timeline and sign a petition, which is viewable as a pop-up window, to protect the decision against Prop. 8 at the American Foundation for Equal Rights website.

Prop 8 Maps
Who supported Prop 8 in the first place? Here is a mash-up in Google maps that gives a geographic visual of the original advocates.

Celebrities React to Prop 8’s Unconstitutional Ruling
A collection of comments from Hollywood stars—such as Modern Family cast members, Olivia Wilde, and more—showing support for the ruling.

BREAKING: 9th Circuit Court Rules Prop 8 UNCONSTITUTIONAL
The NOH8 Campaign shares its excitement and discusses the other legal issues that surround Proposition 8 and the possibility of future appeals.

No on Proposition 8
“Like” this Facebook page to stay up to date on the continuing news surrounding the movement against Proposition 8.

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