Exxon has decided to ban several political advocacy flags from being flown on company flag poles causing major backlash.
Among the banned flags is the LGBTQ+ rainbow flag, and the Black Lives Matter flag. Surprisingly the rule does actually allow the flying of flags that represent LGBTQ employee resource groups as long as the flag does not “prominently” display the Exxon logo. This fact did not stop employees and consumers from melting down.
“It is difficult to reconcile how ExxonMobil recognizes the value of promoting our corporation as supportive of the LGBTQ+ community externally (e.g. advertisements, Pride parades, social media posts) but now believes it inappropriate to visibly show support for our LGBTQ+ employees at the workplace,” an LGBTQ workers group told Bloomberg in a statement.
The truth is, that Exxon is still allowing the visible display of support for LGBTQ+ workers, just not the broader community. This is why they allow workers’ group flags with the pride rainbow or other symbols to be flown.
This, however, is apparently not enough for the woke mob. Twitter users reinforced the pushback of worker groups online by complaining through their screens.