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Top Florida employers join coalition to fight against LGBT discrimination

Top Florida employers join coalition to fight against LGBT discrimination

Many of Florida’s largest employers on Monday launched the Florida Business Coalition for a Competitive Workforce, aimed at passing a bipartisan bill that would ban anti-gay and gender-based discrimination.

FloridaThe Competitive Workforce Act would modernize state law to include anti-discrimination protection based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression, reports Equality Florida.

The legislation, sponsored in the state House Reps. Joe Saunders (D-Orlando) and Holly Raschein (R-Key Largo) and by Sen. Joe Abruzzo (D-Wellington) in the Senate, aims to grow the economy by attracting and retaining the best workers to Florida with the promise of equal opportunity employment.

Since recruiting and retaining talent is critical to our long-term business success, Coalition members understand that Florida employers must attract qualified and diverse applicants who reflect the diverse population of the state,” the employers said, in a statement.

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“The link between strong anti-discrimination laws and the ability to draw the best and the brightest is the reason that 84% of the nation’s largest companies have adopted comprehensive anti-discrimination policies that include sexual orientation and gender identity.”

The coalition says that the measure will make Florida more competitive in the national and global marketplace in much the same way companies have benefited from adopting anti-discrimination policies.

The coalition includes major Florida employers such as Walt Disney World Resorts, Darden Restaurants Inc., CSX Corp., Tech Data Corp., Wells Fargo Bank, Florida Blue, HSN, the University of North Florida, C1 Bank, Carlton Fields Jorden Burt law firm and The Haskell Co.

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