I Helped Make Corporations Woke, and I Regret It

I sat in the Washington office of a major airline’s head of government relations, where we were joined by the top lobbyist for one of America’s largest hotel chains. It was 2013, and I was president of the gay conservative group Log Cabin Republicans. I had come to secure corporate support for the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would have banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. Pressure from leading corporations, I correctly assumed, would push waffling Republicans to vote for the legislation.

What business did airlines and hotel chains have weighing in on gay-rights legislation? None. In fact, doing so could even be bad business, as the lobbyist explained: “We already have a longstanding LGBT nondiscrimination policy, which actually puts us at a competitive advantage as a more appealing employer for gay people.”