A Pioneer in Domestic Partner Benefits, Chrysler Shows Support on National Coming Out Day

Oct. 11 is National Coming Out Day and the Chrysler Group started the observance early by flying a rainbow directly below its corporate banner at the company’s headquarters in Auburn Hills.

National Coming Out Day is an internationally observed day to celebrate coming out and to raise awareness of the LGBT community and LGBT civil rights movement. The day commemorates the anniversary of the 1987 National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, and is aligned with the Chrysler Group’s efforts to promote diversity and respect in the workplace, the company said in a news release.

Chrysler’s observance also includes a special display featuring members and supporters of the company’s LGBT employee resource group, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA) at Chrysler Group.

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National Coming Out Day “is an immensely significant day in the LGBT community, as it recognizes the struggle that many individuals have had and do battle with coming out to as a member of the LGBT community,” said Gregory Hawkins, an engineer at Chrysler Group, who serves as chair of GALA. “To see Chrysler Group’s observance of this important day makes me proud and comforts me in knowing that the company I work for not only supports my authenticity and identity, but also embraces it.”

Chrysler Group was a leader among U.S. employers in providing domestic partner benefits to its employees in 2000. In 2013, Chrysler Group was among a small group of leading employers to achieve a perfect score of 100 percent on Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Corporate Equality Index.

The HRC is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, America’s largest civil rights organization, and is dedicated to achieving LGBT equality. The Company has achieved this benchmark eight times since it was established and, until recent years, Chrysler said it was the only automaker to consistently achieve a perfect CEI rating.

Chrysler Group also is a member of the Michigan Competitive Workforce Coalition seeking an update to Michigan’s anti-discrimination law to prohibit discrimination because of sexual orientation or gender identity.

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