Arcus Foundation

The Arcus Foundation requires all organizations seeking funding to have in place a board-approved Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Policy that specifically includes and lists sexual orientation and gender identity, and requires compliance with all other applicable federal and local EEO laws. Organizations with non-compliant EEO policies will not be considered for funding.

In 2000, the Arcus Foundation began looking at our partnering organizations' Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policies. We believe the people and organizations we fund should share our same goals of inclusiveness, officially and in writing.

Making this happen has been hard work for all of us. All over the country, non-profit board members, sometimes for the very first time, have had to figure out what exactly is meant by "sexual orientation" and "gender identity," and why anyone cares about these terms. They've had to engage in comprehensive and meaningful debate, and grapple with how these significant words might impact their organization in terms of employees and services.

We hope the process has been enlightening. At the very least, we're pleased that words like "gay" and "lesbian" need not be whispered anymore in organizations that once might have studiously avoided, or benignly ignored, such topics.

More importantly, we hope we have alleviated some of the very real legal and visceral separateness from the world experienced by many people in our communities. Almost all our partnering organizations have shared our concerns and enthusiastically complied with our request. Many told us they were embarrassed they had not done it sooner. And, yes, an extremely small handful refused to participate. Still, we remain hopeful that we can make progress with them in the future. Altogether, the number of partner organizations adopting broadened inclusiveness policies has now topped 125. What at first seemed incredibly audacious (and a little scary for us), now seems obvious and natural.

Thanks for joining us in promoting true inclusiveness.

Jon Stryker
President and Founder

Gender Identity Issue Resources
To help answer questions you may have regarding gender identity.

"Gender" Glossary of Terms
(Information obtained from the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition at www.gpac.org)

Gender refers to the way we perceive things to be masculine or feminine.

Gender Characteristics refer to primary and secondary physical sexual characteristics, such as height, weight, and body hair.

Gender Expression refers to things like clothing and behavior that manifest a person's fundamental sense of themselves as masculine or feminine, and male or female.

Gender Identity refers to an individual's fundamental sense of themselves as masculine or feminine, and male or female.

Gender Stereotyping refers to the act of trying to enforce individuals to conform to gender stereotypes, as well as negative expectations based on those stereotypes.

Selected Fortune 500 companies with Equal Employment Opportunity Policies that include Gender Identity: IBM, Hewlett-Packard, AT&T, MetLife, Prudential Financial, Intel Corp., Motorola, Bank One Corp., Xerox, Lucent Technologies, Nike Inc., Apple Computer, Best Buy. (Information obtained from the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition at www.gpac.org)

Laws adding gender identity and/or expression protections to local non-discrimination statutes have been passed by more than 55 local jurisdictions around the country, including: Tucson, AZ; Springfield, IL; Louisville, KY; El Paso, TX; Toledo, OH; State of California, State of Minnesota, State of Rhode Island, State of New Mexico, State of New York, State of Illinois. (Information obtained from the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition at www.gpac.org)

Selected colleges and universities with gender identity/expression clauses in their non-discrimination policies: American University, Brown University, Cornell College, DePauw University, University of Iowa, Kalamazoo College, Lehigh University, Middlebury College, University of Puget Sound, University of Washington. (Information obtained from the Gender Public Advocacy Coalition at www.gpac.org)

For more information, please visit the following organizations:
Gender Public Advocacy Coalition, www.gpac.org "works to end discrimination and violence caused by gender stereotypes by changing public attitudes, educating elected officials and expanding legal rights"

Human Rights Campaign, www.hrc.org "working for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equal rights"

Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, www.glsen.org "working to ensure safe and effective schools for all students"

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, www.thetaskforce.org "working for the civil rights of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people, with the vision and commitment to building a powerful political movement"

Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, www.glaad.org "dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation"

Intersex Society of North America, www.isna.org "devoted to systemic change to end shame, secrecy, and unwanted genital surgeries for people born with an anatomy that someone decided is not standard for male or female"

Transgender Law and Policy Institute, www.transgenderlaw.org "dedicated to engaging in effective advocacy for transgender people in our society"