“My attitude is that gays and lesbians should have access and opportunity the same way everybody else does, in every institution and walk of life,” Obama said, noting that the Boy Scouts provides young people opportunities and leadership and that “nobody should be barred from that.”

Boy Scouts to Lift Gay Ban?

Corporate pressure from companies such as Ernst & Young, AT&T and Merck & Co. certainly contributed to the Boy Scouts of America’s apparent decision to end its ban on gay scouts and troop leaders, with a formal announcement expected as early as next week. The new policy would leave membership decisions up to the Boy Scouts’ 290 local councils and 116,000 sponsors, which are comprised of religious and civic groups.

“The Boy Scouts of America have heard from scouts, corporations and millions of Americans that discriminating against gay scouts and scout leaders is wrong,” said Herndon Graddick, President of GLAAD, an advocacy group for LGBTs. “Scouting is a valuable institution, and this change will only strengthen its core principles of fairness and respect.”

“Last year Scouting realized the policy caused some volunteers and chartered organizations … to act in conflict with their missions, principles or religious beliefs,” said Boy Scouts of America spokesperson Deron Smith. “It’s important to note this policy would not require any chartered organization to act in ways inconsistent with that organization’s mission, principles or religious beliefs.”

Change of Heart?

However, many news sources say the Boy Scouts’ sudden reversal is less about conflicting missions—after all, the policy had been in place since before the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality in 2000—and more about societal pressure to shift toward more inclusive practices.

The announcement comes just seven months after Boy Scouts of America was slammed nationally for reaffirming its anti-gay membership policy after nearly two years of examination, and just one month after Merck & Co ended its funding to the Boy Scouts.

In addition to continual chiding from the public, Boy Scouts of America evoked strong reactions from senior executives and other diversity leaders at top corporations—in particular, Ernst & Young Chairman and CEO Jim Turley and AT&T Chairman, CEO and President Randall Stephenson, who are both BSA board members. Turley very publicly urged the Boy Scouts to reconsider the policy to better reflect the times; the Girl Scouts, 4-H clubs and the U.S. military all have policies of inclusion.

“I support the meaningful work of the Boy Scouts in preparing young people for adventure, leadership, learning and service. However, the membership policy is not one I would personally endorse,” Turley said last June. “As I have done in leading Ernst & Young to being a most inclusive organization, I intend to continue to work from within the BSA board to actively encourage dialogue and sustainable progress.”

Ernst & Young is No. 6 in the DiversityInc Top 50 and No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees. AT&T is No. 4 in the DiversityInc Top 50 and No. 8 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees. Merck & Co. is No. 16 in the DiversityInc Top 50. All three companies have a 100 percent rating on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign, which designates those organizations demonstrating workplace equality for LGBT employees.

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The announcement, made by Merck Foundation Executive Vice President Brian Grill, is an affirmation of the company’s core value of inclusion. Merck & Co. is No. 16 in the 2012 DiversityInc Top 50.

“We cannot continue to provide support to an organization with a policy that is contrary to one of our core beliefs. We remain ready and willing to re-consider our funding position in the event that the BSA were to revise its policy,” Grill said in a statement. “We’re confident that this decision is aligned with our high ethical giving standards and strong core beliefs, and reinforces our long-standing commitment to policies that prevent against discrimination.”

The company also plans to review its other funding decisions for 2013 and will evaluate whether those contributions align with the company’s policies and ethical beliefs.

Records show that in 2011, Merck gave $30,000 to the Boy Scouts of America and $10,000 to the Cradle of Liberty Council, which governs troops in the Philadelphia area, where Merck Chairman, President and CEO Kenneth Frazier grew up.

LGBT Discrimination & Boy Scouts

The Boy Scouts’ gay ban, which prohibits LGBT people from participating in the organization as leaders and scouts, has been in place for more than a decade. In June, the BSA was slammed by LGBT supporters when it failed to make any revisions to its anti-gay ban and refused to allow Jennifer Tyrrell, a lesbian, to resume leadership of her troop.

Other corporations have suspended funding to the BSA as well. Additionally, two Boy Scouts board members have spoken out on the issue: Ernst & Young (No. 6 in the DiversityInc Top 50) Chairman and CEO Jim Turley became the first board member and corporate leader to publicly urge the BSA to change its policy, and AT&T (No. 4) Chairman, President and CEO Randall Stephenson also issued a public statement promoting diversity and inclusion. Both companies earned 100 percent scores on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.

Ernst & Young, No. 4 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees, and Turley in particular have been very visible supporters of diversity and inclusion.  Turley spoke at a DiversityInc event, for example, about his public pronouncement for the rights of women in Saudi Arabia, and he served as keynote for the Committee for Economic Development’s release of its “How More Women on Corporate Boards Would Make America and American Companies More Competitive” report.

Stephenson also spoke at a DiversityInc event, discussing the need for cultural diversity in education and corporations’ responsibility to build diverse talent pipelines among talented youth. AT&T is No. 8 in The DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for LGBT Employees.

Also read:

Supreme Court to Hear Prop 8, DOMA Cases

Diversity Wins: Demographic, Psychographic Shifts Decided Election

Gay-Cure Ban Stops ‘Quackery’ Therapy

LGBT Pride Facts & Figures

Ask DiversityInc: How Can Corporations Support Same-Sex Marriage?

Safe LGBT Spaces: What Schools Can Learn From Resource Groups

The post Merck Condemns Boy Scout Gay Ban, Halts Funding appeared first on DiversityInc.

Photo credit: Northfoto/Shutterstock.com

Augusta National Golf Club announced former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and business executive Darla Moore as its first female members this week. But many media reports and social-media comments question the sincerity and timing of the club’s decision to end its 80-year-old men-only policy.

Some Twitter users said Augusta National’s “motives were questionable at best” and wondered why an LPGA “pro wasn’t first or even at all” offered membership. Some “suspect sponsor pressure had something to do with it.”

IBM’s Female CEO

Augusta National’s men-only policy came under increased scrutiny during the Master’s Tournament this April after Augusta National failed to extend membership to IBM’s CEO Virginia Rometty, the company’s first female CEO. Augusta National traditionally offers membership to CEOs of the tournament’s sponsors—this year, that included IBM, AT&T and Exxon—that contribute about $18 million annually. IBM is No. 17 and AT&T is No. 4 in The 2012 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list.

All four of Rometty’s male predecessors received membership. Rex Tillerson of Exxon and Randall Stephenson of AT&T are also members.

Rometty, who does play golf, later attended the Master’s sporting a pink jacket, reports Forbes, creating further criticism of Augusta as well as its corporate sponsors’ decision to endorse its discriminatory practices.

Stephenson applauded Augusta’s addition of Rice and Moore. He said in a statement: “As a sponsor of The Masters, we applaud today’s historic announcement by Augusta National and warmly welcome Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore as members of Augusta National.”

The club’s membership policies have come under attack multiple times in the last couple of decades. Augusta’s first Black member was admitted in 1990 as a response to civil-rights protests at Alabama’s Shoal Creek Country Club.

Similarly, National Council of Women’s Organizations’ Martha Burk organized a protest in 2002 that pressured Augusta National to remove its gender barrier, as DiversityInc reported in “What in the @#!% Is Wrong With Golf?” But then-chairman William “Hootie” Johnson stood firm on the club’s policy, refusing to allow what he termed “social pressure” to be the catalyst for change.

Burk notes to news sources that her protest greatly influenced Augusta, along with continued attention from other women’s groups. “My first reaction was, we won — and we did,” Burk says. “We gave them a pretty big black eye in April … And I think they knew they could not sustain it.”

ESPN journalist Bob Harig writes that Augusta National Chairman Billy Payne was “waiting for the right time, the right place, the right way” to veer away from his predecessor’s decision.  He notes that Payne may have shown his more inclusive sentiments after the 1996 Olympics had to exclude golf because of  Augusta’s men-only policy. Payne said the event was his “biggest personal disappointment.”

Charlie Hanger, executive editor of Golf.com, disagrees. “Payne seemed genuinely flustered with the harsh questioning this year, and I wonder if behind closed doors that led him to push for the change. The issue was clearly not going away, so they really didn’t have much of a choice,” he writes.

Baby Steps to Gender Equality

Is Payne’s decision purely out of good will? Or is it a PR-savvy play? One article on BleacherReport suggests that Augusta’s motives remain gray and highlights that two women among the club’s speculated 300 male members isn’t enough to “all join hands and start singing.” Augusta’s new 0.6-percent representation is well below the total 20 women now serving as Fortune 500 CEOs (a total of 4.0 percent).

Rice is the first Black woman to serve as secretary of state, and Moore, vice president of Rainwater, was the first woman to be featured on a cover of Fortune magazine.

The golf industry has traditionally been a white and male sport. The formation of the LPGA in 1950 and star Black golf players Joe Louis in 1952 and Tiger Woods in 1997 helped the sport gain publicity in the public eye. In 2010, core golfers totaled 18.0 percent women, up 17.8 percent from 2005, according to the National Golf Foundation. Black core golfers total 3.9 percent, Latinos total 7.7 percent and Asians total 8.9 percent of core golfers, says research from the 2009 World Golf Foundation.

Diversity & Inclusion at Your Office

Currently, women account for 50.8 percent (157.2 million) of the total U.S. population and about 49.8 percent of the world population. Our Women’s History Month Facts & Figures show that women increasingly are obtaining educational degrees and assuming management roles.

DiversityInc Top 50 companies, in particular those in The 2012 DiversityInc Top 10 Companies for Executive Women, have made progress in achieving parity in representation. That’s why they have more women in top management and CEO positions (8 percent) than the Fortune 500 and are able to connect to the marketplace better.

Here are their best practices for recruiting and promoting women:

Resource groups: Also known as business resource groups or networks, resource groups are particularly helpful for enhancing the talent development of women, providing a peer support system and gaining insight into the key concerns/needs of your female customers.

Mentoring: Our DiversityInc Top 50 data reveals that mentoring is a key way to improve retention, engagement and promotion rates for women. More on mentoring is available in this diversity web seminar.

Work/Life Benefits: Keeping women in line positions so they can reach senior management is one of the top challenges organizations face. Providing telecommuting, flexible work schedules and onsite childcare, among other work/life options, are not just company “perks” anymore but key strategies for approaching the global talent war. Additionally, a DiversityInc networking event on global female talent development revealed that leaders also need to educate managers about the need for flexibility. Watch the video below.

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