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Exxon Ban on LGBTQ Pride Flag Triggers Employee Backlash

  • Executives ‘took exception’ to Pride flag, employee group says
  • Workers refuse to represent company in Houston Pride parade
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Photographer: Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images
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Exxon Mobil Corp. plans to prohibit the LGBTQ-rights flag from being flown on the corporate flagpole outside its offices during Pride month in June, prompting a furious backlash from Houston-based employees.

Exxon updated company guidance on what flags can be displayed outside its offices, banning “external position flags” such as PRIDE and Black Lives Matter, according to the policy seen by Bloomberg News. Instead, the rule permits a flag representing an LGBTQ employees’ group that does not prominently feature Exxon’s corporate logo.