| King & Spalding Drops DOMA Monday saw a victory for LGBT equality as law firm King & Spalding announced that they would withdraw their role in defending the Defense of Marriage Act on behalf of the U.S. House of Representative. Paul Clement, a partner at King & Spalding, was tasked to lead the defense, but the firm's Chairman Robert Hays decided that the engagement had not been properly vetted, and would be filing a motion to withdraw from the case. Questions arose when King & Spalding took on the defense of DOMA, especially considering its touting of a 95 percent on HRC's Corporate Equality Index, and an articulated firm-wide commitment to LGBT diversity. We are pleased to see that King & Spalding has decided to stand on the right side of history and remain true to its core values.
Read more about King & Spalding's decision on HRC's Back Story here» Hawaii Legislature Passes Transgender Employment Protections Last week, by a 45-4 vote, the Hawaii House concurred with the Senate on a HB 546 SD1, a bill codifying prohibitions against discrimination in employment on the basis of gender identity. The bill now heads to Governor Abercrombie, who has said he will sign it into law. Upon Governor's signature, Hawaii will join 12 states and the District of Columbia in banning discrimination on the basis of gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations. HRC worked closely with Equality Hawaii to build both public and legislative support for this legislation. Through this joint effort, thousands of phone calls, emails and handwritten letters were sent to legislators urging them to approve this legislation. Read more about this exciting vote on HRC's Back Story here» Dream Jobs Align with LGBT Inclusion Practices  Universum recently conducted a survey of 10,306 young professionals (as defined as college graduates with one to eight years of work experience) to pick their ideal employers from a list of 150 candidates. Of the top ten most ideal employers for the youngest workers, five were ranked in the 2011 Corporate Equality Index. Four of those five received a 100%, designated a Best Place to Work for LGBT Equality, and the other received a 95%
Ideal employers it seems also happen to do right by their LGBT employees. These inclusive policies and practice may contribute to their attractiveness to the young workforce. Surprisingly, this same group of young professionals are the least likely to be open in the workplace. According to Degrees of Equality, only 5% of LGBT employees ages 18 to 24 say they are totally open at work. They say they are not open to everyone at work because they are worried about adversely affecting relationships with new coworkers, many of whom are older and might be perceived as less accepting. The top reason 18 to 24 year olds are not open at work is they do not want to make people feel uncomfortable (65%). You can read more about Universum's survey here» And learn more about HRC's national study examining LGBT workplace climate in Degrees of Equality here» | 
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