NEW YORK CITY: National Gay & Lesbian Task Force Joins Battle Against Walmart

As I've reported here for months, Walmart is engaged in a pitched battle with unions and city leaders in their attempt to bring an outlet to New York City. Today the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force came out against the retail giant.

“With the expansion of Wal-Mart stores comes the expansion of antiquated employment policies,” the Task Force said in a statement, “that provide little to no protections for, and at times even hostility toward, their LGBT employees.” The Task Force criticized Wal-Mart for denying employee benefits to same sex-partners and for failing to prohibit discrimination based on gender identify. By comparison, the group said two other chain stores with a strong presence in New York, Costco and Walgreens, did much better. “It may be a local debate for New York City, but Wal-Mart is a largest private employer in country,” said Rea Carey, the executive director of the Task Force. “To have Wal-Mart as a substantial employer there, and an employer that lacks these basic protections, then a lot of people who need work, who seek work, simply won’t feel comfortable.”

Walmart contends that it does treat its gay staffers fairly and points to the existence of its long-running LGBT employees group.