More than 500 companies call on Senate to approve LGBTQ protections bill Equality Act

More than 500 U.S. corporations have joined the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) Business Coalition for the Equality Act.

HRC announced the milestone last week, saying that the Business Coalition is "the largest business coalition to ever come together in support of legal LGBTQ+ equality."

The Equality Act, which seeks to add sexual orientation and gender identity to current civil rights laws, stalled out in the Senate after clearing the House. President Joe Biden has endorsed the legislation.

According to HRC, more than 160 Fortune 500 companies have joined its Business Coalition.

"The 503 member companies of HRC's Business Coalition for the Equality Act represent a major swath of America's economic engine, with member companies overseeing business operations in all 50 states, company headquarters spanning 33 states and a combined $7.2 trillion in annual revenue," the group said. "The 503 members of the coalition collectively employ more than 15.3 million people in the United States."

HRC added that the largest previous business effort in support of legal LGBTQ equality was an amicus brief to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage, which included 379 businesses.

The Business Coalition for the Equality Act surpassed 400 members in April 2021.

According to recent polling, 70 percent of Americans, including 50 percent of Republicans, support the Equality Act.