Activists staging events at gas stations on May 14 and May 21, and outside ExxonMobil shareholders meeting May 26
Local activists from GetEQUAL — the national LGBT direct action group whose members have been arrested recently in Washington and San Francisco — plan protests outside three ExxonMobil stations in Dallas on Friday, May 14.
The protests are designed to draw attention to Irving-based ExxonMobil’s anti-gay employment practices as well as the need for passage of the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act, according to GetEQUAL’s Mark Reed.
"When the world’s largest publicly traded international oil and gas company with nearly 30,000 employees in the United States refuses to protect the LGBT community against workplace discrimination, it underscores the need for Congress to pass ENDA now," Reed said.
"Every day that Congress does not act on ENDA is another day when lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees can be fired from ExxonMobil for simply being who they are."
The rallies will begin at 4 p.m. outside ExxonMobil stations at 3716 Maple Ave., 4239 Lemmon Ave. and 2503 Lemmon Ave. in Dallas, and GetEQUAL is hoping to have at least 25 people at each location.
GetEQUAL is also calling for protests at ExxonMobil stations around the country on May 21.
And on May 26, protesters will gather outside the Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas, where ExxonMobil shareholders will hold their annual meeting and again vote on a proposal to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the company’s employment nondiscrimination policy.
The proposal, which has been introduced every year since 2000, was defeated last year by a margin of about 60 percent to 40 percent in a vote of shareholders.
After Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999, ExxonMobil rescinded Mobil’s LGBT employment protections and domestic partner benefits.
ExxonMobil is one of the few companies that score a zero on the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, which ranks businesses based on their LGBT-related employment practices.
Reed, Chastity Kirven and Michael Robinson are organizing the May 14 rallies.
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition May 14, 2010.
this is odd – I understand about the benifits – but saying they won’t hire homosexuals? Has anyone not been to the Exxon OnTheRun on Lemmon lately? Not to mention the one on Oaklawn@Maple – they mo’s are practically tripping over each other behind the counter…the one on Lemmon alone has at least 4 that I can name off, and least 2 at the other location – which I’m rarely at, but have seen one of them at both locations working…maybe that explains why they’re always so b*tchy….I just figured they were big queens, now I know they’re just disgruntled….
Another unnoticed publicity stunt. As was noted on another site – “Dump-the-Pump” was a stupid name and the intention was to inconvenience people and blame Exxon.
A friend said there were a dozen “protesters” involved. That would be a record for GetATTENTION. I think the Voice expected more people because they said (with sophomoric glee) that “things could get interesting, GetEQUAL isn’t afraid of getting arrested.” How much more “1960s-high-school-drop-out” can you get, John Wright?
The GetATTENTION embarrassment will end soon. Make sure to order your “David Mixner T-Shirt” before the website goes down. It’s true. A “Mixner” T-shirt. They must have a “Dan Choi is our MLK” t-shirt, too.