Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Joe Biden calls for business to lead on LGBT rights

US Vice President Joe Biden

'The world is looking at you,' Biden tells top executives Image: REUTERS/Ruben Sprich

Arwen Armbrecht
Senior Writer, Forum Agenda

Vice President Joe Biden doesn't hold back when it comes to promoting and improving LGBT rights in the workplace. During the the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting in Davos, he met with numerous executives including Nathan Blecharczyk, co-founder of apartment-sharing company Airbnb; Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of the Coca Cola Company; and Anthony Scaramucci, founder of hedge fund SkyBridge Capital.

"When it comes to LGBT rights in the workplace, the world is looking to you," Biden told them. "You have more impact than anything the federal government has done."

Loading...

The vice president was adamant that the conduct of senior management was core to advancing the LGBT agenda. "You can literally change the terms of the debate ... You actually put governments on notice," he said.

Biden also praised the progress already made. Only a few years ago, he pointed out, business leaders would have ignored homophobic remarks. "You would have all kept you mouths shut. We wouldn't have said anything. Today, name me a business meeting in the United States of America with someone who would do that."

That sentiment was echoed by Beth Brooke-Marciniak and Shamina Singh, speakers on the first ever LGBT panel at Davos.

Loading...

In many ways, for LGBT people relationships in the workplace can be as important as relationships with friends or family. As many as 62% of LGBT graduates born between 1980 and 2000 return to the closet when they start their first job, and 70% of those who keep their sexual orientation a secret at work are likely to leave their job within the first three years. According to an poll conducted by OUTstanding, a network for LGBT professionals, 85% of those surveyed said that non-inclusive workplaces are damaging to productivity.

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

Sign up for free

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

Stay up to date:

Gender Inequality

Share:
The Big Picture
Explore and monitor how Gender Inequality is affecting economies, industries and global issues
A hand holding a looking glass by a lake
Crowdsource Innovation
Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale
World Economic Forum logo
Global Agenda

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

Why businesses must take action on disability inclusion by 2025

Katy Talikowska

December 6, 2024

Closing the AI equity gap: Trust and safety for sustainable development

About us

Engage with us

  • Sign in
  • Partner with us
  • Become a member
  • Sign up for our press releases
  • Subscribe to our newsletters
  • Contact us

Quick links

Language editions

Privacy Policy & Terms of Service

Sitemap

© 2024 World Economic Forum