The recent “coming out” of Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook in which he said he was proud to be gay and that he is thankful the company extends fairness to the “LGBT” community is trending toward becoming a more common occurrence in corporate America, based on a new survey.

Data released Wednesday from the Human Rights Campaign finds that a record number of companies, including seven in North Carolina, received perfect scores in corporate inclusion for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees (LGBT).

Bank of America, Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC and GlaxoSmithKline are among those receiving a “100” on the Corporate Equality Index.

The “Best Places” ranking “reflects true inclusion of the transgender workforce, from non-discrimination protections to inclusive benefits and diversity practices to respectful gender transition guidelines, allowing employees to self-identity based on gender identity, and engaging the broader transgender community,” according to Chad Griffin, president of the HRC.

“When it comes to LGBT equality, corporate America is a leader, not a follower,” Griffin said about the findings of the report.

“Since the CEI’s inception in 2002, America’s largest employers embrace LGBT-inclusion as a best business practice, and protections for employees on the basis of gender identity as a non-negotiable,” he wrote.

However, “much work remains to be done,” Jeff Krehley, chief foundation officer for the Human Rights Campaign, wrote in a post at The Advocate website.

“Despite this progress, we still have enormous work to do,” Krehley pointed out. “Transgender workers in the U.S. have double the rate of unemployment overall and face widespread mistreatment at work, according to the groundbreaking report “Injustice at Every Turn” by the National Center for Transgender Equality and the National LGBTQ Task Force. Those numbers soar for transgender people of color. The repercussions of this discrimination can be devastating and leave far too many vulnerable to violence.”

IBM, AT&T and Apple, all of which have a major presence in North Carolina, also received the top score.

The survey includes data from 781 companies, up from 734 a year ago. of those, 15 were from North Carolina.

How rankings made

The “Best Places to work for LGBT Equality” for achieving a 100 percent score went to 366. 

Companies are ranked for:

  • Non-discrimination policies
  • Employment benefits
  • Demonstrated organizational competency and accountability around LGBT diversity and inclusion
  • Public commitment to LGBT equality
  • Responsible citizenship

“When it comes to LGBT equality, corporate America is a leader, not a follower,” Griffin said about the findings of the report.

“Since the CEI’s inception in 2002, America’s largest employers embrace LGBT-inclusion as a best business practice, and protections for employees on the basis of gender identity as a non-negotiable.”

Scores for North Carolina

Scores for firms rated in North Carolina: 

  • Bank of America Corp. 100
  • Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina 100
  • Delhaize America Inc. 100
  • GlaxoSmithKline LLC 100
  • Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams 100
  • Replacements, Ltd. 100
  • Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, LLP 100
  • Duke Energy Corp. 90
  • Reynolds American Inc. 85
  • BB&T Corp. 80
  • Hanesbrands Inc. 80
  • Moore & Van Allen PLLC 75
  • Compass Group USA Inc. 65
  • Quaintance-Weaver Inc. 65
  • VF Corp. 50

The report found that 89 percent of companies include gender identity as part of non-discrimination policies, up three percentage points from a year ago.

Among Fortune 500 companies, 66 percent have such policies, up five percentage points from 2013.

The survey also includes 190 Fortune 500 companies that were assigned “unofficial” scores based on “publicly available information.”

A total of 418 companies that participated in the survey also offer ”at least one health care plan that has transgender-inclusive coverage.” That total represents a 22 percent increase.

The full report can be read at: www.hrc.org/cei.