NEW GAY BUSINESS INDEX PLANNED

An international gay rights organisation is compiling an index of the most gay-friendly businesses in the world.

The International Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (IGLCC) has invited all major international corporations to participate in the world premiere of the International Business Equality Index survey.

The survey aims to measure how these corporations are performing internationally in issues related to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community.

The Index will also allow corporations to draw external comparisons, which illustrate how their competitors are doing as well as internal comparisons that provide a better understanding of their own performance.

Co-Secretary general of ILGA, Gloria Careaga said “We see this index as a milestone in corporate support to the LGBTI movement and encourage activists groups to ask corporate companies to apply”.

The deadline for completion of the survey is April 30 2009 with the results being announced during the International Conference on LGBT Human Rights held during the World Outgames in Copenhagen from July 25 to August 2.

The International Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce was founded in 2006 in Hamburg, Germany and is based in Montréal, Canada. It claims to be the world’s leading international LGBT business network. Membership is made up of organisations represented by 17 chambers of commerce and business organisations in 14 countries.