After the White House moved Wednesday night to roll back protections for transgender students across the U.S., tech companies were among the first to fire back at President Donald Trump.
Apple, Google, IBM, Uber, and Lyft have all provided statements to media outlets denouncing Trump’s decision. Each of these companies has spoken out about LGBT issues in the past, most notably when 90 executives signed a letter denouncing North Carolina’s "bathroom bill" last year.
Apple was the first technology company to dissent, telling Recode, "Apple believes everyone deserves a chance to thrive in an environment free from stigma and discrimination. We support efforts toward greater acceptance, not less, and we strongly believe that transgender students should be treated as equals."
Google echoed the sentiment, saying in a statement, "We've long advocated for policies that provide equal rights and treatment for all. We're deeply concerned to see a roll-back in transgender students' rights."
Both Lyft and Uber quickly disagreed with the rollback.
"Removing protections for transgender students is wrong," Lyft said in a statement to CNNTech. "We oppose this action and, as always, stand in support of the LGBTQ community."
Uber told Politico it is "proud of our longstanding opposition to harmful initiatives aimed at the LGBT community."
Microsoft and Salesforce executives also denounced the order on Twitter.
Since Jan. 1, 1863, the federal government has played a vital role in protecting the rights of all Americans. Let’s not stop now. #LGBTQ
— Brad Smith (@BradSmi) February 22, 2017
Let's agree now to always love all our children, and that our schools will be safe places for all. #EqualityForAll pic.twitter.com/DfhCjTbaoc
— Marc Benioff (@Benioff) February 23, 2017
LGBT rights organizations quickly began to organize protests. Human Rights Campaign urged people to call their congressional representatives and GLAAD began organizing a rally in New York.
Equality for transgender youth is on the line! To call your Representative text "CALL CONGRESS" to 30644 and demand they #ProtectTransKids. pic.twitter.com/yji0W6SVnt
— HumanRightsCampaign (@HRC) February 23, 2017
Rally to oppose Trump's attack on trans students TONIGHT at 5:30 pm in NYC: https://t.co/wGUhiVvB3x #WeResist pic.twitter.com/VPGXHIr2am
— GLAAD (@glaad) February 23, 2017
Many entertainers spoke out against the decision, including Jackie Evancho, who performed at Trump’s inauguration. Evancho, who has a transgender sister, invited Trump to meet with her and her sister to talk about trans rights.
I am obviously disappointed in the @POTUS decision to send the #transgender bathroom issue to the states to decide. #sisterlove
— jackie evancho (@jackieevancho) February 22, 2017
