IBM unveils pride logo
Have you heard the news? IBM has unveiled a LGBT Pride themed logo. “Big Blue” as they are affectionately referred to, announced the redesigned, 8-bar logo this week.
In a statement shared on the company’s website, [we] “strongly oppose[s] discrimination of any kind toward anyone.” Additionally, the statement reads that the company “firmly stands by all of [its] employees”.
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Part of what spurred the creation of this logo, which incorporates elements of the Gilbert Baker Pride Flag into the company’s traditional one, is to publically show its opposition to anti-LGBTQ legislation that has been cropping up in different states.
The company has been a longtime supporter of equality. Starting 20 years ago, they were among one of the first large companies to offer domestic partner benefits (health bennies) to same sex employees.
The company has also been a very vocal against local and state municipalities that try to enact laws that discriminate against LGBT people.
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During the North Carolina “Bathroom Bill” fight started by its former Gov. Pat McCrory, IBM issues an extremely critical statement against the effort and reasserted its commitment to equality. FYI: The company has a large presence in the state’s “Research Triangle” area of the state.
The company pushed back against an effort in Louisiana last year to enact it’s so called “Religious Freedom Bill”.
The company is smart to publicly demonstrate its commitment to LGBT employees and consumers. Most large tech organizations have a sizable number of “out” employees, including well known giants like Google, Apple and Facebook.
A survey released in 2016 by Witeck Communications revealed that the combined buying power of LGBT consumers was a whopping 917 billion dollars.
International Business Machines Corporation [IBM] is global company that is headquartered in Armonk, New York.
It began operations way back in 1911 as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR). In 1924, the company was renamed to “International Business Machines”.
Their annual report indicates they employee over 377,000 employees worldwide.
h/t: Pink News
