LGBT Leaders Look Past Gay-Friendly Wall Street

Finance firms can move fast when it benefits the bottom line. That’s why Wall Street, despite its rigid alpha-male reputation, has been remarkably progressive on the issue of gay rights. From the breadth of domestic partner benefits to Goldman Sachs Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein’s commercials in support of same-sex marriage, banks and brokerages have embraced this area of equality. Maybe that’s because of the industry’s war for talent, the spending power of gay clients, or Blankfein’s thesis that the market only cares about results.

Whatever the reason, the finance sector’s rapid adoption of gay-friendly practices presents an interesting challenge for Todd Sears. He founded Out on the Street, a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) group that’s grown from six member companies to 15 over the past three years. “It’s an exciting time,” says Sears, a former investment banker and ex-Merrill Lynch financial adviser. “We’re at a transformative moment.”