Open to All Statement Reaffirming Support for the LGBTQ Community and Condemning Backlash Against Pride
Open to All consists of nearly 700,000 businesses, including 80+ corporate partners, mostly retailers. Together, we are large and small businesses, many of us retailers in every community across the United States. LGBTQ people are part of our workforce, our customers, and the communities we serve. Open to All businesses are in every state and every mall in this country — and span the globe. To the LGBTQ community: we see you. We care about you. We support you. You belong.
We join together to reaffirm our support of the LGBTQ community and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, and we condemn acts of harassment and violence.
One of the values of Pride Month is a celebration of diversity, including a diversity of beliefs. We value and respect all our customers, and we will not tolerate harassment of our employees and customers or threats of violence — at any time of the year. The safety of our employees and customers is our number one priority. We remain steadfast in supporting the LGBTQ community while ensuring the safety of our staff members and shoppers.
Part of our partners’ commitment to the LGBTQ community includes their membership in Open to All, where together we engage in year-round programming and learning centering on better serving historically marginalized communities, including how to best support our LGBTQ employees, customers, and community members in our businesses and in the midst of escalating tensions and targeting.
In more than half the country, our state laws still do not explicitly protect LGBTQ Americans from discrimination in stores and restaurants, in the workplace, or in housing. And even when laws are in place, we know that people are often still harassed, policed, and even denied service based on their race, ethnicity, national origin, immigration status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, religion, and/or disability. This year alone, 600+ bills have been introduced targeting the LGBTQ community, most targeting transgender and non-binary people. Yet, public opinion overwhelmingly supports LGBTQ equality. The vast majority of Americans, 80%, support laws that protect LGBTQ from discrimination in jobs, public accommodations, and housing.
This Pride season, and throughout the year, Open to All and our coalition will continue to work to create a world where everyone — regardless of who you are — feels welcome and respected. We believe we all have something to contribute. We believe we can all learn from each other. We believe that when we work together, when we value our employees, when we care for our customers and each other, we all thrive.
About Open to All
Open to All consists of nearly 700,000 businesses, including 80+ corporate partners, mostly retailers. Founded in 2017, Open to All is a program to build understanding and discussion about the importance of our nation’s nondiscrimination laws — and the bedrock principle that when businesses open their doors to the public, they should be Open to All. It’s supported by a coalition of more than 200 nonprofit organizations committed to civil rights, racial justice, LGBTQ equality, health and healthcare, disability inclusion, faith, and much more.
For resources, please visit Open to All’s Inclusive Retail Toolkit.
