Comcast NBCUniversal earned a 100 percent score on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2016 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for the fourth consecutive year and was named a Best Place to Work for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) Equality.

The CEI is a national benchmarking survey administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation which evaluates more than 1,000 businesses on their LGBT-related policies and practices, including non-discrimination workplace protections, domestic partner benefits, transgender-inclusive health care benefits, competency programs, and public engagement with the LGBT community.

OUT@NBCUniversal launched in 1986 and was the nation’s first LGBT employee resource group. OUT@Comcast and OUT@NBCUniversal engage people at all levels of the organization, empowering them to drive exceptional business results while providing professional and leadership development opportunities for its members. Earlier this year, OUT@NBCUniversal made history again as the first and only LGBT group to march under its own banner at the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 17, 2015.

We also have a rich history of showcasing groundbreaking LGBT content and talent, including a few historic "firsts" in television history:

  • Love, Sidney, the first sitcom with a gay lead character in 1981

  • An Early Frost, the first TV movie about AIDS in 1985

  • LA Law, the first lesbian kiss on television in 1991

  • Friends, the first lesbian wedding on TV in 1997

  • Will & Grace, the first gay-focused sitcom in 1997

  • XFINITY launched one of the first online programming portals dedicated to curating LGBT content in 2013

That tradition continues with the November 27th premiere of Focus Features’ The Danish Girl, the story of Lili Elbe’s historic journey as a transgender pioneer.

Congratulations to all of us on achieving a top CEI score again this year.