ExxonMobil Is Banning LGBTQ & BLM Flags From Being Flown At Its Offices

ExxonMobil plans to ban the LGBTQ-rights flag as well as the Black Lives Matter flag from being flown outside during Pride month in June, and the company is catching hell for it. Some say this is not important in light of the harm Exxon and other oil companies are causing to our planet, but it’s all related.

According to Bloomberg, which saw the policy, Exxon updated the company guidance on what flags are allowed to be displayed outside its offices and it banned external position flags such as PRIDE and Black Lives Matter.

I feel as if this sends a powerful message to both communities that their voices are not important in the workplace. I’m not LGBTQ nor Black, but I have several close friends who are one or both of those, and they deserve to feel safe and accepted.

However, I’m not surprised that Exxon took this stance. In fact, it’s kind of strategic, if you ask me. Think about it from their perspective. Would you rather have people angry at you over human rights or would you have them angry over you destroying the planet for profit? What affects your wallet more?

Human rights issues such as Black Lives Matter and PRIDE tend to have their seasons within the media. Something happens, the media sensationalized it, and then most people move on a month or so later, which enables the collective to forget about the incident until something else happens. Exxon will probably hurt less over human rights issues than if the collective were to really take a deep dive into how these fossil fuel companies are destroying our planet. If only the media would sensationalize the results of a test that showed how the Exxon plant in my own city produced 350 pounds of particulate matter per hour.

Here’s what I think will happen. ExxonMobil will catch so much hell that it might revise the policy to include both the Black Lives Matter and PRIDE flags, and then everyone will be happy again. Meanwhile, Exxon will continue doing what it does best.