Gay pride parade florida 2015
This year’s theme of racial and economic justice supports our mission as a company to build a culture of diversity and inclusiveness for all. He said, “Participating in the event this year was so important in light of what happened this week. It was a great opportunity for yet another group here at SAP to participate in such an amazing event.”īrian Reaves heads up diversity and inclusion for the SAP Office of the CEO and leads BEN.
Put simply, those companies commit to creating an inclusive culture, annually publish numbers indicating progress, and create the partnerships required to improve diversity in tech.Īnd for the third year in a row, SAP also received a perfect score of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2016 Corporate Equality Index, a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBT workplace equality.īut perhaps most important was the fact that this year the celebration theme was “San Francisco Pride for Racial and Economic Justice.” Says Teixeira, “We invited the SAP Black Employee Network (BEN) to walk alongside us and show their Pride. Throughout 2016, SAP employees are participating in nine LGBT pride events globally from Sydney to Milan to Argentina.Įarlier that week, SAP signed the United States Tech Inclusion Pledge alongside 32 other technology companies including Airbnb, Intel, Pinterest, and VMWare. SAP, in particular, had a lot to celebrate. Once we confirmed with the San Francisco Pride committee that extra security measures would be taken to ensure our safety, the choice was clear…we would march rain or shine – mission accomplished!” “We made a commitment to our attendees to stand together with them for equality, and against hatred and violence at this year’s event. drew the contingent together and one of the main organizers, George Teixeira, said this about why it was so important that SAP march despite security concerns. SAP employees are participating in 9 LGBT pride events globally from Sydney to Milan to Argentinaīut that did not dim the enthusiasm of the SAP Silicon Valley community who, for the second year in a row, participated as corporate sponsors of the parade. With heightened police presence and extra security measures – and reports of thwarted violence at the Los Angeles LGBT parade – people were edgy and surprised to have their bags checked and metal detectors used as they entered the heart of the parade at San Francisco’s Civic Center. This year’s event was shadowed by the massacre of 49 people at Pulse, a well-known Orlando, Florida gay nightclub.
The 2015 Pride parade took place immediately after same-sex marriages were declared a legal right across the United States. In the wake of the Orlando shooting, this year’s parade had a decidedly different feel from last year’s celebration of the LGBT culture and community.
June is LGBT Pride Month and on Sunday, June 26, over 200 SAP employees, friends, and family marched in the 2016 San Francisco Pride Parade.