On Tuesday, June 2, the Dallas campus of CoreLogic raised a rainbow flag to celebrate Gay Pride Month. The month-long celebration takes place in June each year and pays tribute to the Stonewall riots, which took place in Manhattan in June 1969.
Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, being gay was illegal in most U.S. states, and there were no openly-gay politicians or laws to protect individuals from discrimination. At the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York’s Greenwich Village, the gay community faced consistent abuse, harassment and raids by police. On June 28, 1969, the police began another raid at the bar, which eventually lead to city-wide riots, protests and demonstrations among the LGBTQ community. This event was seminal in helping to ignite the spark for the gay liberation movement, and resulted in the inaugural Christopher Street Liberation Day, (now known as the Gay Pride Parade) on June 28, 1970.
Due to the large remote workforce as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the raising of the Pride flag this year was broadcasted via Zoom to CoreLogic employees in the Dallas and Austin, Texas, offices. Approximately 90 team members dialed into the Zoom video conference to watch the ceremony from home. On-site, approximately 25 CoreLogic leaders, who had recently returned to the office, attended in person.
Guest speakers for the event included Brian Battaglia, Executive of Data and Advisory Solutions and Executive Sponsor for the Pride Employee Resource Group at CoreLogic Dallas. It also included Barry Sando, Managing Director for Underwriting and Workflow Solutions and site leader of the Dallas campus.
“This is the second time we’ve raised the Pride flag in front of the CoreLogic building,” said Battaglia during his speech. “Last year, I can’t tell you how many comments I heard from folks at the company, and from within the Pride Employee Resource Group, about how much it meant to them to see the company fly the Pride flag. Hearing these comments made me feel really good to be a CoreLogic employee and team member to all of you. Raising the flag is about more than standing with the LGBTQ community. It’s also a call to action for more diversity, inclusion and equality across companies, the country—and the world at large.”
“We raise the rainbow flag at CoreLogic to show we acknowledge and are proud of the diversity and inclusion within our team,” said Timothy Hardin, executive of business unit compliance and President of the Pride Employee Resource Group at CoreLogic Dallas. “The ceremonial raising of the Pride flag is symbol of peace and freedom for those of us in the LGBTQ community to express who we are without harboring fear in the workplace, public or our private lives. And while the Pride flag traditionally celebrates the LGBTQ community in particular, the principles of the flag—treating people with respect, appreciating what makes people different and valuing those differences—can be applied to all. In light of the recent events that have occurred across the country, and world, these principles are more important than ever.”
Sando added, “It is critical that we continue to focus on diversity and inclusion and ensure every person is comfortable with coming to work each day. We must treat people with dignity, fairness, respect—and with compassion.”
CoreLogic is proud to celebrate LGBTQ employees, and their communities. For more information on the company’s commitment to diversity, visit the CoreLogic Diversity and Inclusion page.