Stolichnaya vodka’s parent company, SPI Group, in the past few days added sexual orientation to their non-discrimination policy. It came to light only last week that the company which proclaims itself to be very pro-gay didn’t even include protect its gay employees from discrimination.
And while the new language is laudable, it still fails to mention gender identity, aka trans people.
I’d written on Friday about the seeming contradiction between Stoli’s claims that it’s gay gay gay, and the fact that Stoli (and its parent company SPI Group) do not include gay or trans people in its non-discrimination policy. It’s also still not clear if Stoli, or SPI Group, offers any same-sex partner benefits (such as health benefits), or benefits of particular relevance to transgender people.
Photos of Stoli vodka dump at Russian consulate in NYC by ©Scott Wooledge.
As a bit of background, gays and allies around the world began a boycott of all Russian vodka a few weeks ago in response to Russia’s brutal crackdown on gay and trans people in that country.
Here’s how the SPI Group Web site like on July 22, 2013 – no non-discrimination language:
And here’s SPI Group’s Web site after the boycott of Stoli vodka (and all Russian vodka) was announced – not the sexual orientation non-discrimination, but also not that gender identity is not listed:
That’s a good start, but a better start would add gender identity. We’d also like a definitive answer as to what, if any, same-sex partner benefits, and benefits for transgender employees, Stoli and SPI Group offer worldwide.
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