Sundar Pichai, Tim Cook, Mark Zuckerberg and the Chief Executive Officers of 15 other tech giants have called on Texas Governor Greg Abbott not to pass the “discriminatory legislation,” as the state lawmakers continue to debate a so-called “bathroom” that would affect the transgender students in the state a particular bathroom.
In a letter to Texas Governor dated May 27th, the executives said that the “passage of any discriminatory legislation” in Texas would be “bad for the employees of all the companies and bad for business.”
The letter, as first reported by The Dallas Morning News, was also signed by Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Microsoft President Brad Smith, and Jeff Wilke, CEO of Worldwide Consumer at Amazon, among others.
If the governor signs the law, it would require transgender students to use bathrooms that match the gender listed on their birth certificates. Governor Abbot is a Republican, he said that he wants to pas the bill before the Texas legislature adjourns at the end of May.
Today CEOs @tim_cook @MichaelDell @finkd @ChuckRobbins @sundarpichai @MegWhitman @GinniRometty asked @GregAbbott_TX to end discrimination. pic.twitter.com/a3GF9AFsdR
— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) May 29, 2017
The legislature faced a lot of discrimination from LGBT groups and business organizations who describe it as discriminatory.
"As large employers in the state, we are gravely concerned that any such legislation would deeply tarnish Texas' reputation as open and friendly to businesses and families," the tech CEOs wrote in their letter to Abbot. "Our ability to attract, recruit and retain top talent, encourage new business relocations, expansions and investment, and maintain our economic competitiveness would all be negatively affected.”
“Discrimination is wrong and it has no place in Texas or anywhere in our country,” the letter continues. “Our perspective is grounded in our values and our long-held commitment to diversity and inclusion.”
More than 80 executives of IT companies spoke out against a similar bill in North Carolina last year, in a letter to then North Carolina Governor, Pat McCrory, a Republican. The bill was partially repealed in March, under Democratic Governor Roy Cooper.
United States ban laptops on Board
AMandeep
