LGBT discrimination laws still in effect in Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 6/17/14

Kate Giammarise, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; LGBT discrimination laws still in effect in Pennsylvania:

"According to the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania, 17 states include legal protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity in their non-discrimination laws, and four additional states include protections based on sexual orientation. In Pennsylvania, 34 municipalities have similar ordinances, according to the ACLU.

Advocates for the legislation say the concept of barring discrimination has broad popular support and is long overdue.

“The people outside of this building are way ahead of the people inside of this building,” said Ted Martin, executive director of Equality PA."

Gov. Wolf asks legislators to send him LGBT bills; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 1/28/15

Karen Langley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; Gov. Wolf asks legislators to send him LGBT bills:

"Gov. Tom Wolf on Wednesday stepped to the forefront of efforts to ban discrimination against gay and transgender people in Pennsylvania, asking legislators to send him one of two bills that languished in committee last session.

In remarks at an event hosted by Equality Pennsylvania, a group that advocates for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender residents, Mr. Wolf framed the issue as a matter of business sense. He said corporations such as Dow Chemical Co. — a sponsor of the event — UPMC and PNC support such protections because they are good for business.

“Why would we cut ourselves off from a talent pool that is broad as it could possibly be?” said Mr. Wolf, a Democrat who took office last week. “Why would we cut ourselves off from people just because of who they love?”"

These 6 tech giants still haven't released their diversity data; Forbes, 1/27/15

Michal Lev-Ram, Forbes; These 6 tech giants still haven't released their diversity data:

"Below are six tech giants — IBM IBM -1.49% , Oracle OCLCF 4.06% , EMC EMC -2.30% , Broadcom BRCM -1.72% , SanDisk SNDK -1.39% and Qualcomm QCM — that have yet to release their data. A spokesperson for Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle says the company has no plans to do so. A few other tech companies Fortune spoke to were more thoughtful in their responses, asserting that while they have yet to disclose their diversity numbers, they are engaged in active, internal conversations to determine when and how they should go about doing so.

Even among those technology firms that have released diversity data, some companies are more transparent than others. For example, not all tech firms have published the entire contents of their annual EEO-1 reports, a government form requiring many employers to provide a count of their employees by job category, ethnicity, race and gender.

And, of course, there is the issue of what happens after a company releases such data—after all, transparency alone isn’t enough to move the needle on diversity and inclusion."

California Bars Judges From Boy Scouts Membership; Associated Press via New York Times, 1/24/15

Associated Press via New York Times; California Bars Judges From Boy Scouts Membership:

"California's Supreme Court voted Friday to prohibit state judges from belonging to the Boy Scouts on grounds that the group discriminates against gays.

The court said its seven justices unanimously voted to heed a recommendation by its ethics advisory committee barring judges' affiliation with the organization.

In 1996 the state Supreme Court banned judges from belonging to groups that discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, but made an exception for nonprofit youth organizations.

The Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics in February recommended eliminating the exception to enhance public confidence in the judiciary."

Transgender Individuals Recognized For First Time Ever In A State Of The Union Speech; Huffington Post, 1/20/15

Amanda Terkel and Nick Wing, Huffington Post; Transgender Individuals Recognized For First Time Ever In A State Of The Union Speech:

"President Barack Obama pushed for protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals Tuesday evening, making it the first time lesbian, bisexual and transgender people have ever been recognized directly in a State of the Union address.

"As Americans, we respect human dignity, even when we're threatened, which is why I've prohibited torture, and worked to make sure our use of new technology like drones is properly constrained," said Obama, adding, "That’s why we defend free speech, and advocate for political prisoners, and condemn the persecution of women, or religious minorities, or people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender. We do these things not only because they're right, but because they make us safer.""

Success and Shortfalls in Effort to Diversify N.F.L. Coaching; New York Times, 1/20/15

David Waldstein, New York Times; Success and Shortfalls in Effort to Diversify N.F.L. Coaching:

"Charles Ogletree, a professor at Harvard University’s law school and the founder of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, embraces the rule. But he said that it had not corrected the wide disparity between the numbers of black players and black coaches. “There is a big difference between interviewing and hiring,” Professor Ogletree said. “There has just been too little effort in that regard. There needs to be more hiring in a significant way, and not just because they are black, but because they are talented and do well when they get those jobs. There is no acceptable reason for this underrepresentation.”

Intel Allocates $300 Million for Workplace Diversity; New York Times, 1/6/15

Nick Wingfield, New York Times; Intel Allocates $300 Million for Workplace Diversity:

"On Tuesday, Intel said the company’s work force would better reflect the available talent pool of women and underrepresented minority groups in the United States within five years. If successful, the plan would increase the population of women, blacks, Hispanics and other groups at Intel by at least 14 percent during that period, the company said.

In addition, Intel said it has established a $300 million fund to be used in the next three years to improve the diversity of the company’s work force, attract more women and minorities to the technology field and make the industry more hospitable to them once they get there. The money will be used to fund engineering scholarships and to support historically black colleges and universities."

Microsoft Releases More Diversity Stats, and They Aren’t Pretty; Wired.com, 1/5/15

Davey Alba, Wired.com; Microsoft Releases More Diversity Stats, and They Aren’t Pretty:

"Microsoft has quietly released more information about the diversity of its employees, and these new stats are in line with most every other big player in tech: Women and people of color are highly underrepresented at the software giant.

Late last year, Microsoft revealed some of its diversity statistics and even launched a dedicated diversity and inclusion website. But some activists urged the company to release its federal Equal Opportunity form, or EEO-1, which contains more information about the company’s internal diversity numbers. Just after the New Year, the company did indeed make the form public...

The new statistics released by Microsoft are disappointing at best. The company’s report to the federal government says that 76 percent of its overall workforce is male, while only 24 percent is female. 61 percent are white. 29 percent are Asian. 5 percent are Hispanic/Latino. And only 3 percent are black."