Nissan turns gay-friendly
A gay motoring website has updated its listing of gay-friendly car companies to include two brands previously on its non-gay-friendly list – Nissan and Infiniti.
Both brands are sold in the US by Nissan North America (NNA) who recently announced they would be offering domestic partner benefits to all of their US employees.
“We are ecstatic that Nissan North America has rolled out their domestic-partner benefits to all of their U.S. employees,” said Joe LaMuraglia, publisher of Gaywheels.com and former employee of NNA.
“I was fortunate enough to be part of the team that got the ball rolling and began the campaign to push for domestic partner benefits for LGBT employees at Nissan. I commend the employees still there who kept the dream alive and followed this through to completion.”
Nissan will be offering domestic partner benefits to their US-based employees as of January 1, 2007. Employees in the sales and marketing division of the company have enjoyed domestic partnership health insurance and car benefits since January, 2006. The latest addition includes the manufacturing arm of the company, which employs the vast majority of Nissan’s US workers.
“The addition of Nissan and Infiniti to the gay-friendly list is an example of how a few people can affect change,” LaMuraglia emphasised. “If the employees at Nissan hadn’t worked together to bring this important issue to the attention of management, LGBT employees at the company might still be without equal benefits.”
The addition of Nissan and Infiniti to the gay-friendly list brings the number of gay-friendly brands to 32. That leaves only 14 car brands remaining on the non-gay-friendly list, or still “under investigation.”
The updated gay-friendly list is featured on a completely redesigned site designed to be easier to use and more visually appealing. Virtually every new car, SUV and light truck model for sale in the US is summarised on Gaywheels.com with photos, prices, safety information, driving impressions and a detailed description.
Gaywheels.com also features original new-vehicle reviews by gay automotive writers, advice and recommendations on vehicle purchasing, financing and insurance.
Gaywheels.com is dedicated to promoting responsible consumerism and affecting change by encouraging car shoppers to patronize gay-friendly companies throughout the vehicle purchase process.
Users of the site are able to investigate which automakers and other automotive companies offer domestic partner benefits to their employees, thus qualifying them as “gay-friendly.” With that information at hand, they can make educated choices during the car-buying process. Gaywheels.com launched in June 2005 as the consummate gay-friendly automotive resource.
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