For Gays, Some Doors Open Wider

Boeing is also in the forefront in that it created guidelines this year to help support employees who are transitioning from one sex to another. Boeing has designated a person (called the Gender Transition Leader or GTL) for employees to go to when they decide to start the process, which takes one to five years, Tucker said. That person helps them come out to co-workers and managers. The guidelines also outline what dress is appropriate as they go through the change, with whom they can talk to support them through the process, and how they can file complaints if they are being harassed or discriminated against.

In addition, the company helps create a "forum" to discuss the change with co-workers and managers, to help them also understand.

"We looked at the experiences that we were having at Boeing with a number of employees that were transgendering and thought it was time to add to this policy," Tucker said.

But not all major companies are interested in providing such benefits, which hasn't escaped the attention of supporters of gay and lesbian rights.

Exxon Mobil Corp. does not offer benefits to new employees' same-sex domestic partners in the United States. The company was one of three that received a zero rating on the 2006 Equality Index. Mobil Corp. had offered benefits to gay and lesbian workers equal to those offered to married workers. But when it was acquired by Exxon Corp. in 1999, those benefits disappeared.

As a result, the company has been the focus of efforts by shareholders and rights groups to change its policies.

Some companies, however, have encountered a backlash for showing support of gay and lesbian employees or business. When news got out last month that Wal-Mart Stores Inc. had partnered with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, it created a stir among some religious groups that said they would consider not shopping at the retail giant. Wal-Mart received a scored of 65 on the Equality Index this year.

Corporate America is "driven by the business model, and that says what's good for business is the most welcoming, most diverse workforce," said Joe Solmonese, Human Rights Campaign president. "There were a couple instances over last year where the radical right has reared its ugly head in the last vestiges of an attempt to make this a battleground. And what they have found is that corporate America is always going to come down on the side of that which is good for business."