Detroit will again be blanketed in colors of the rainbow this weekend (June 9-10) celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) culture at Motor City Pride, an annual two-day festival and parade that is the largest LGBTQ gathering in Michigan.
As a key sponsor of the festival and the lead sponsor of the parade, FCA US LLC and the FIAT brand will celebrate their longstanding commitment to LGBTQ employees, communities, customers and issues.
A specially-wrapped 2018 Fiat 124 Spider, the brand’s roadster, will serve as the grand marshal vehicle of the Motor City Pride parade, which starts at noon on June 10 and ends at Hart Plaza. Two additional 2018 Fiat 124 Spiders and two 2018 Fiat 500X vehicles will accompany the grand marshal vehicle to lead the parade.
“We are pleased to continue our leading support of Motor City Pride, the largest LGBTQ event in the state of Michigan,” said Steve Beahm, Head of Passenger Car Brands – Dodge, SRT, Chrysler and FIAT, FCA – North America. “Motor City Pride is an important way for FCA US and FIAT brand to celebrate our inclusive work culture where all employees are respected and fully engaged in the process of developing vehicles that resonate with diverse buyers and communities.”
The power behind the FCA US-FIAT brand sponsorship of Motor City Pride is the Company’s LGBTQ Business Resource Group, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance (GALA).
GALA is one of seven business resource groups at FCA US representing a range of affinity communities: African American, Hispanic, Asian, LGBTQ, Veterans, Native Americans and Women. More than 1,000 employees are members or allies of these groups.
FCA US business resource groups are employee-directed and are each assigned an executive sponsor. These groups individually and collectively pursue initiatives that enhance the FCA US work culture by focusing on career development of members, celebrating multicultural differences and bringing value to the Company and external communities through volunteer, charitable and strategic activities.
“Motor City Pride is fueled by the longstanding support of FCA US and FIAT brand,” said Dave Wait, Chairperson – Motor City Pride. “We are thankful for how this collaborative partnership helps fuel efforts to achieve full equality and respect for all people in Michigan.”
FCA US was recognized as a leader among U.S. employers for providing domestic partner benefits to its employees in 2000 and has achieved a perfect score of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Corporate Equality Index 11 times since the benchmark was established.
The HRC is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, America’s largest civil rights organization, and is dedicated to achieving LGBT equality. Until recently, FCA US was the only automaker to consistently achieve a 100 percent annual CEI rating.
The Company recently earned meaningful acknowledgement of its diversity leadership when the editors of the respected DiversityInc magazine named FCA US to the magazine’s 2018 list of “Noteworthy Companies for Diversity” and to the list of “Top Companies for Veterans.”