Media Companies Get High Marks for LGBT Equality

Ten entertainment and media companies recorded a top rating of 100 on the latest Human Rights Campaign Foundation corporate LGBT equality index.

The index rates businesses on "inclusive policies, practices and benefits for LGBT employees" and relies on self-reported information from companies surveyed as well as on other sources, including the SEC and IRS.

Getting the highest mark, which means they are tabbed "Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality," were AMC Networks, CBS, Comcast, DirecTV, Sirius XM, Sony Corp., Sony Pictures Entertainment, Time Warner Inc., Viacom, and Disney.

Time Warner Cable also got a 100 score, but was listed in the telecom category along with 100-scorers AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Level 3 and Qualcomm.

The 14th edition of the index found a record 407 companies achieved the top rating, despite more stringent criteria. That compares to the most recent index scorecard in 2012, when 189 companies got that 100 score. Only 13 companies achieved it in the first year of the index.

The HRC Foundation said 679 companies responded to the survey, which means a majority got the 100 scores.

John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.