Exxon is banning the LGBTQ pride flag from being flown outside its Houston corporate office during pride month in June. The company updated guidance on acceptable flags which can be displayed outside offices, which included banning “external position flags,” including the pride flag and Black Lives Matter flag, according to the new policy obtained by Bloomberg News.
The rule does permit a flag representing an LGBTQ employees’ group to be flown, but it can’t prominently display the Exxon corporate logo, according to the report.
Exxon’s move didn’t go over well with members of the Exxon PRIDE Houston chapter who are now refusing to represent the company at Houston’s pride celebration, the report states.
Flags representing employee resource groups at the company can be displayed, according to a spokesperson, and told Bloomberg News it supports that.
“The flags are directly related to our business and company support of our ERGs, including PRIDE for LGBTQ+ employees,” the spokesperson said.
The move to allow employee resource group flags to be flown, however, is not enough for the LGBTQ employees’ group.
“It is difficult to reconcile how ExxonMobil recognizes the value of promoting our corporation as supportive of the LGBTQ+ community externally (eg advertisements, Pride parades, social media posts) but now believes it inappropriate to visibly show support for our LGBTQ+ employees at the workplace, ” the workers’ group said in the email to Bloomberg News.