Qantas CEO urges senior LGBT business leaders to come out

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce today told business leaders in Hong Kong that the world would be “more tolerant and inclusive” if more senior business leaders were open about their sexual orientation.  Joyce is one of the few openly gay CEOs of a major corporation.

Speaking at The Economist‘s Pride and Prejudice event, Joyce stated, “it has become more important for leaders who are LGBT to be open about their sexuality. I am passionate about it. There should be more people like Apple’s Tim Cook and Paul Zahra, the former CEO of Australia’s David Jones.”

The need for openly LGBT business leaders in Asia is particularly important.  According to The Economist, business leaders in Asia are less likely than their counterparts in North America or Europe to know that LGBT people are working for their companies.  In a survey of senior executives, only 38% of Asian respondents said they had LGBT colleagues and almost 17% said they didn’t know any LGBT people.

Read more coverage from the South China Morning Post

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