Texas Competes 2021 Open Business Letter

The undersigned companies are proud Texas employers and investors; supporters of Texas’ unique, diverse culture; and beneficiaries of and contributors to Texas’ resilient economy.We have long strived to make our workplaces safe and welcoming for everyone we employ. But the fullness of our team members’ lives, and the lives of their families, stretch well beyond the workplace. They live in their communities, where they rent or own homes, shop, go out to eat, take transportation, seek and access healthcare, and participate in community and school activities. They deserve to feel safe, welcome, and treated with dignity in those settings, too.

That’s why we support the inclusion of LGBTQ people in nondiscrimination laws, including policy that would update Texas’ nondiscrimination laws to include LGBTQ people. Such policies simply recognize what we as Americans have long agreed: discrimination is real, and it can hold people back from their full potential to work hard, earn a living, support their families, and participate in and contribute to their communities.We are concerned to see a resurgence of efforts to exclude transgender youth from full participation in their communities, to criminalize or ban best-practice medical care that is proven to save lives, or to exclude LGBTQ people in a variety of other settings, including accessing healthcare, filling a prescription, or seeking legal representation.

Such legislation would send a message that is at odds with the Texas we know, and with our own efforts to attract and retain the best talent and to compete for business. We will continue to oppose any unnecessary, divisive measures that would damage Texas’ reputation and make our customers, our visitors, and our employees and their families feel unwelcome or unsafe.With so many layers of urgent issues facing the state, from pandemic recovery to grid stability to public education, infrastructure, and broadband, we urge policymakers to continue to focus their good work on fostering a state that works for everyone and welcomes everyone.

• Adobe Inc.

• Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

• Amazon

• American Airlines

• Apple

• Applied Materials

• Austin Chamber of Commerce

• Austin City Limits Music Festival

• Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce

• Austin Tech Alliance

• Bain and Company

• BASF

• BBVA USA

• Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc.

• bp America

• C3 Presents

• Capital One

• Capital Factory

• Cedar Park Chamber of Commerce

• Certain Affinity

• Cisco

• City of San Antonio

• data.world

• Dell Technologies

• Destination El Paso

• Dow

• Electronic Arts

• G6 Hospitality LLC

• Gearbox Entertainment

• Google

• Greater Houston LGBT Chamber

• GSD&M

• HP

• Houston Dash FC

• Houston Dynamo FC

• Hunt Companies

• IBM Corporation

• Integer Holdings Corporation

• Levi Strauss & Co

• Lime

• Live Nation Entertainment

• Lush

• Mark Cuban Companies

• Marriott International

• McKesson

• McKinney Chamber of Commerce

• Meta

• Micron Technology, Inc.

• Microsoft

• NI (formerly known as National Instruments)

• North Texas Commission

• North Texas LGBT Chamber of Commerce

• PayPal

• Playful Studios

• Reed Smith, LLP

• River City Federal Credit Union

• Salesforce

• San Antonio LGBT Chamber of Commerce

• Silicon Labs

• Southwest Airlines

• Splunk Inc.

• Sun Life

• Sustainable Food Policy Alliance, including member companies Danone North America; Mars, Incorporated; Nestlé USA; and Unilever United States

• TechNet

• Texas LGBTQ Chambers of Commerce

• Ticketmaster

• Trillium Asset Management

• Unilever

• United Airlines

• United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce

• Visa

• VMware

• Yelp