Fortune 500 companiesand large business have adopted LGBT inclusive policies thatinclude anti-discrimination, specialized training programs andother benefits. (Photo: Shutterstock)

Dozens of companies, includingMicrosoft Corp., Google Inc. and The Coca-Cola Co., pushed backagainst recent attempts by the Trump administrationto reduce protections for transgender people underfederal civil rights laws. They instead stressed the importance ofequality in a public statement released Thursday.

The 56 companies include majorfinancial institutions, tech companies and retail giants, among otherhousehold names, such as JPMorgan Chase & Co., Deutsche Bank,IBM Corp. and American Airlines. The effort was organizedby 14 LGBT advocacy groups, including Out Leadership and the HumanRights Campaign.

Related: 4 steps businesses can take to be inclusive oftransgender employees

“We're proud that the businesscommunity is raising its voice to defend some of the mostvulnerable members of our society and helping to fill theleadership vacuum created by the federal government,” Todd Sears,founder and principal of Out Leadership, said in astatement.

The letter comes a week afterthe U.S. Justice Departmenttold the U.S. Supreme Court that atransgender worker should not be guaranteed federal civil rightsprotections under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, veering fromthe position of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.The EEOC sued a Michigan funeral home for firing Aimee Stephens,who had presented as a man for six years as funeral director beforeshe came out as transgender to her bosses andco-workers.

The New York Times first reportedplans to redefine “gender” under federal civil rights laws underTitle IX of the Civil Rights Act to specify that gender refers tothe sex a person is at birth. This proposal would effectively eraseprotections for transgender students.

U.S. Attorney General JeffSessions has argued in trial and appeals courts against protectionsfor both gender identity and sexual orientation under Title VII.Last year, the Justice Department, lining up against theEEOC, told the U.S. Courtof Appeals for the Second Circuit that federal civil rightsprotections do not extend to gay and lesbian employees.

The business group's lettercalled for the millions of people who identify as transgender,gender nonbinary, or intersex “to be treated with the respect anddignity everyone deserves” and calls “for respect and transparencyin policy-making, and for equality under the law for transgenderpeople.”

“We oppose any administrative andlegislative efforts to erase transgender protections throughreinterpretation of existing laws and regulations,” the lettercontinues. “We also fundamentally oppose any policy or regulationthat violates the privacy rights of those that identify astransgender, gender non-binary, or intersex.”

The group notes that dozens offederal courts have upheld the rights of transgender people. Atleast five federal appeals courts, for instance, upheld protectionsof gender identity under Title VII. Those protections protectworkers from discrimination against their employers.

Fortune 500 companies and largebusiness have adopted LGBT inclusive policies that includeanti-discrimination, specialized training programs and otherbenefits. 

The Supreme Court could considerhow far to extend the scope of protections in the workplace, underTitle VII, this term with the Stephens case, R.G.G. HarrisFuneral Home v. EEOC, and two others from the Second andEleventh circuits that focus on whether protections extend tosexual orientation.

Business groups and majorcompanies have sided with the LGBT workers in the lower courts onthese cases and others, pushing for equality and arguing thatprotections would be better for their bottom lines.

Yet a recent report fromthe Human Rights CampaignFoundation found thatnearly half of gay and transgender workers remain closeted at work,a statistic that has remained largely unchanged in the last decade.The group tracks LGBT policies at major companies across thecountry, and has found a record number of companies are adoptingprogressive policies for gay and transgender workers.

Read more:

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• A tipping point for LGBT policies in theworkplace
• Where do LGBT workplace rights stand afterKennedy's departure?