LGBTQ100 Index Launches, Spotlights Companies Acting as Allies

LGBTQ Loyalty Holdings has officially launched the LGBTQ100 environmental, social, and government index. The move marks the first ESG ticker ever referencing the LGBTQ community.

"While we have made great gains in combating prejudice based on gender identity or sexual orientation, the fight is not over," said Barney Frank, a member of the LGBTQ Loyalty board of directors. "The establishment of the LGBTQ100 Index is a logical next step in this effort."

Frank, who previously served as a Massachusetts congressman and one of the most prominent out politicians in the country, stressed the significance of the index. The board also features such prominent LGBTQ leaders as Major League Baseball vice president Billy Bean and sports journalist LZ Granderson.

The LGBTQ100 index will be reconstituted annually and is composed of 100 LGBTQ equality-driven companies out of the nation's top 500 publicly traded companies. Industry sector grouping will be maintained.

The debut list includes such companies as Cisco Systems, Amazon.com, Salesforce.com, Boston Scientific, Microsoft, Apple, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Coca-Cola, JP Morgan Chase & Co., and Alphabet.

Criteria details for the index include if a company:

• Nurtures and promotes equality in the workplace across genders and sexual orientations.
• Maintains a record of loyalty and brand awareness among LGBTQ community members in the U.S.
• Possesses consistently strong financial performance.

More detailed criteria can be found here.

A survey will be administered through the Harris Poll and will add significance for corporate and financial sectors by tapping a base of LGBTQ adults nationwide. Respondents are asked about their attitudes about companies and about what values and issues they consider critical to LGBTQ consumers.

Fuzzy Logix, a big data analytics company, will manage the index methodology.

"We feel honored to be working alongside industry icons in this fight for equality," said Aashu Virmani, Fuzzy Logix executive vice president of sales and marketing,

"It was refreshing to discover what we believe is the correlation between equality and market outperformance, as shown by the LGBTQ100 ESG Index. We believe the outstanding results are sure to encourage socially responsible behavior among corporations worldwide."

LGBTQ Loyalty leaders say the index will provide a valuable tool.

"The launch of the Index indicates a significant milestone for our company as it materializes our long-standing mission in partnership with the LGBTQ community to enhance industry standards for advancing equality in the marketplace," said Bobby Blair, CEO of LGBTQ Loyalty.

"[Creating a] benchmark of companies that we believe have earned our loyalty and dynamic spending power," Blair continued.