Best Companies List: Who Is on Your Side?

The gay-inclusiveness of Abercrombie & Fitch has long been on display, most obviously in its A&F Quarterly. And the company got some attention for parading 101 shirtless male models on the Champs-Elysees in May to celebrate the opening of its Paris flagship store. But it gets less attention, for example, for its policy of prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression.

Best Companies: numeric, A
3M Co.
A.T. Kearney Inc.
AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah Insurance Exchange
Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
Accenture Ltd.
Aetna Inc.
Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld LLP
Alcatel-Lucent
Alcoa Inc.
Alston & Bird LLP
American Express Co.
Ameriprise Financial Inc.
AMR Corp. (American Airlines)
Aon Corp.
Apple Inc.
AT&T Inc.
Automatic Data Processing Inc.
Avon Products Inc.

Insurance benefits for employees of pharmaceutical company Bristol-Myers Squibb, which manufactures and distributes several HIV medications, include coverage for short-term leave after gender-reassignment surgery, mental health counseling, hormone therapy, and medical visits.

Best Companies: B
Bain & Co. Inc.
Baker & McKenzie LLP
Bank of America Corp.
Bank of New York Mellon Corp. (BNY Mellon)
Barclays Capital
Barnes & Noble Inc.
Best Buy Co. Inc.
Bingham McCutchen LLP
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida Inc.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota
BMO Bankcorp Inc.
Booz Allen Hamilton Inc.
Boston Consulting Group
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
Brown Rudnick LLP
Brown-Forman Corp.
Bryan Cave LLP

When the House Republicans picked King & Spalding to represent them in a case defending the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, it was Coca-Cola's name that figured prominently in reports of the firm's clients creating a backlash. Talking Points Memo reported that the company intervened, though a spokesman never confirmed except to emphasize Coca-Cola's support for LGBT rights. King & Spalding eventually backed out of the case.

Best Companies: C
Caesars Entertainment Corp.
Campbell Soup Co.
Capital One Financial Corp.
Cardinal Health Inc.
Cargill Inc.
Carlton Fields PA
Chapman and Cutler LLP
Charles Schwab Corp.
Chevron Corp.
Choate, Hall & Stewart LLP
Choice Hotels International Inc.
Chrysler LLC
Chubb Corp.
Cisco Systems Inc.
Citigroup Inc.
Clifford Chance US LLP
Clorox Co.
Coca-Cola Co.,
The Corning Inc.
Covington & Burling LLP
Credit Suisse USA Inc.
Crowell & Moring LLP
Cummins Inc.

Like all of the companies scored by the Human Rights Campaign at 100%, Dell offers health insurance to its employees' same-sex partners.

Best Companies: D
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Delhaize America Inc.
Dell Inc.
Deloitte LLP
Deutsche Bank
Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP
Diageo North America
DLA Piper
Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Dow Chemical Co.,

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Like all companies scoring 100%, Eastman Kodak is among the businesses the Human Rights Campaign lists as offering at least one transgender-inclusive health care plan.

Best Companies: E
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. (DuPont)
Eastman Kodak Co.
eBay Inc.
Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP
Eli Lilly & Co.
EMC Corp.
Ernst & Young LLP
Exelon Corp.

{C}

It's not directly one of the HRC criteria, but Ford is one of the numerous companies that showed support for LGBT youth by posting an It Gets Better video. The company's video was made by members of Ford GLOBE, its LGBT employee group, during Motor City Pride. And to make the HRC top companies list, all companies must have some form of LGBT group or openness to starting one.

Best Companies: F
Faegre & Benson LLP
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. (Freddie Mac)
Fenwick & West LLP
Ford Motor Co.
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

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Companies are often faced with the public's watchful eye. And so the HRC reserves the right to dock companies 25 points for a large-scale public blemish on their records. General Mills was targeted by the Florida Family Association this year, for example, for running ads on ABC Family's Pretty Little Liars. It removed the ads for business reasons but also issued a statement denying it had anything to do with the right-wing group. The Minnesota-based company has also said it will stay out of the upcoming ballot fight over marriage equality.

Best Companies: G
Gap Inc.
Genentech Inc.
General Mills Inc.
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
GlaxoSmithKline plc
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., The
Google Inc.
Group Health Cooperative

{C}

Furniture maker Herman Miller came under attack from the American Family Association in July for its high score on the HRC's corporate equality index. The major employer in Michigan has even supported a gay rights ordinance in the city of Holland, saying the absence of discrimination helps companies attract highly qualified workers.

Best Companies: H
Herman Miller Inc.
Hewlett-Packard Co.
Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP
Hogan Lovells US LLP
Hyatt Hotels Corp.

{C}

In addition to offering coverage for gender-reassignment surgery, IBM has created a webcast on the topic of gender identity and expression that features transgender workers talking about their experiences and answering questions from other employees. The webcast is available to all IBM employees worldwide, IBM executive Silvy Vluggen tells The Advocate.

Fortune 500 company Johnson & Johnson provides coverage for gender-reassignment surgery as well as mental health counseling. Carol Goodrich, Johnson & Johnson's director of corporate media relations, says the company's LGBT affinity group keeps human resources apprised of necessary policy changes and updates. "We've got a very strong LGBT community at Johnson & Johnson," Goodrich says.

Best Companies: I, J
ING North America Insurance Corp.
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM)
Intuit Inc.
Jenner & Block LLP
Johnson & Johnson
JPMorgan Chase & Co.

{C}

Levi Strauss was one of the more than 70 businesses to file a brief in a court challenge to the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act. The companies said the law, which prevents the marriages of same-sex couples from being recognized in every state and federally, is an overburdening government regulation that should be repealed.

Best Companies: K, L
K&L Gates LLP
Kellogg Co.
Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group Inc.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
KPMG LLP
Kraft Foods Inc.
Levi Strauss & Co.
Limited Brands Inc.
Littler Mendelson PC
Lockheed Martin Corp.

{C}

MillerCoors is one of the many beer companies that regularly and unabashedly market to LGBT consumers. Engagement of all kinds with the LGBT community is considered in the HRC rankings.

Best Companies: M
Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc.
McDermott Will & Emery LLP
McKinsey & Co. Inc.
Medtronic Inc.
MetLife Inc.
Microsoft Corp.
MillerCoors LLC
Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
Morgan Stanley
Morrison & Foerster LLP

{C}

When lawmakers in Nashville were considering whether to pass an antidiscrimination ordinance that would require companies doing business with city contractors to include sexual orientation in their policies, Nike sent a letter urging them onward.

Best Companies: N
Nationwide Navigant Consulting Inc.
Nike Inc.
Nixon Peabody LLP
Nordstrom Inc.
Northern Trust Corp.

{C}

Orbitz is well known for its LGBT-inclusive advertising campaigns. And the company agreed in June to review where it places ads after gay rights activists demanded (via public outcry and a petition with more than 200,000 signatures) that they be removed from Fox News.

Best Companies: O
Office Depot Inc.
Oracle Corp.
Orbitz Worldwide Inc.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
Owens Corning

{C}

Best Companies: P, R

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP
Paul Hastings LLP
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Perkins Coie LLP
Pfizer Inc.
PG&E Corp.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP
Prudential Financial Inc.
Raytheon Co.
Replacements Ltd.
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP
Ropes & Gray LLP{C}

Best Companies: S

Schiff Hardin LLP
Sears Holdings Corp.
Sedgwick, Detert, Moran & Arnold LLP
Sempra Energy
Seyfarth Shaw LLP
Shearman & Sterling LLP
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP
Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP
Sidley Austin LLP
Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Sodexo Inc.
Southern California Edison Co.
Sprint Nextel Corp.
Squire, Sanders & Dempsey LLP
Staples Inc.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide
Sun Life Financial Inc. (U.S.)
Supervalu Inc.
Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP
Symantec Corp. {C}

Toyota's American operations cover medical treatments needed by transgender people, and the company actively recruits LGBT candidates. In June, for Pride month, Toyota's North American sales and distribution headquarters in Torrance, Calif., hosted trans actress Candis Cayne, who spoke to employees about her experience in the workplace.

Best Companies: T
TD Bank, N.A.
Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association - College Retirement Equities Fund
Tech Data Corp.
Thompson Coburn LLP
Time Warner Inc.
TJX Companies Inc.
The Toyota Financial Services Corp.
Toyota Motor Sales USA Inc.
Troutman Sanders LLP

Best Companies: U
U.S. Bancorp
UBS AG
Unilever
United Continental Holdings Inc.
United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS)
United Technologies Corp.
UnitedHealth Group Inc.

Wells Fargo's insurance plans have covered transgender-related medical procedures for years. Also, the human resources team is trained to assist and offer support for transitioning employees as well as educate their coworkers and supervisors. Wells Fargo also has a website for easy access to the financial powerhouse's LGBT policies.

Best Companies: W, X, Y
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz LLP
Walt Disney Co.
The Wells Fargo & Co.
Whirlpool Corp.
White & Case LLP
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr LLP
Winston & Strawn LLP
Xerox Corp.
Yahoo! Inc.