Tesla, Subaru, and the LGBTQ-Friendliest Automakers

Each year, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation ranks roughly 1,000 prominent companies by how equitable they are to LGBTQ people.

2020’s Corporate Equality Index revealed that the majority of companies (686 out of 1,059) met all the criterions of the index and thus received a perfect score. That’s right: nearly 65 per cent of the surveyed businesses are, according to the Corporate Equality Index, the «best place[s] to work for LGBTQ equality».

LGBTQ acceptability in the corporate world has come a long way, so much so that it is now apparent in chronically unaccepting industries. This includes automobile manufacturing. While the auto industry has lower equitability than the index standard, five of its companies received perfect 100s and 12 received a 90 or better. Represented in this dignified group are Tesla, Subaru, and Ford. A brand not represented, because it is defunct, is Saab, which was the first automaker to advertise directly to LGBTQ people.

Saab Paves the Way
Advertisements placed in the November 1994 issues of Out and Genre made Saab a legend in the LGBTQ community. It was the first major automotive manufacturer to advertise in a national magazine devoted to homosexual life. It should come as no surprise that this milestone was reached by a Swedish automaker, since Sweden was one of the first countries to normalise LGBTQ behaviour by legalising same-sex sexual activity in 1944.

Ford Follows

It took a little longer for an American automaker to target the LGBTQ demographic in a positive way. While a Saturn advertisement appeared in a 1995 issue of Out, it was like the Saab ads in that it made no allusions to homosexual living. In 2002, Ford, who for years cornered the gay markets in other countries, finally launched a gay-specific advertising campaign on home soil – but with a UK import! Ford used the Jaguar, a British classic that was temporarily owned by the American autogiant, as the lightning rod for its radical campaign.

Photos featuring a young man waiting for a different kind of partner in a Jaguar X-Type sedan were the first gay-specific ads published in America by an American car company. Like it or not, this makes Ford a LGBTQ pioneer. Not only that — the company maintains 90 per cent equitability according to the quality and reliability ratings while simultaneously producing award-winning, heavy-duty pickups, like the Ford Super Duty.

Tesla and Subaru: The Bifecta

Professing 100 per cent gay-friendliness, Subaru and Tesla are the perfect vehicular darlings of the LGBTQ community. Subaru’s community ties began in 2001 when out tennis player Martina Navratilova posed for the automaker’s magazine campaign. Subsequent selective advertisements made Subaru the «number one car for lesbians».

Tesla’s popularity among the LGBTQ community can be attributed both to its equitable employment policies and its participation in recent pride parades. In fact, the rainbow Tesla has become a Pride fixture. Also, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has publicly supported the community. In a 2018 tweet, Musk rebuffed a user who criticised Tesla’s participation in the pride parade. Musk cited the Global Equality Index when he replied that «Tesla scored 100/100 four years in a row on LGBTQ equality». In another tweet, he told the quibbler that he or she shouldn’t «buy our car if that’s a problem”, Musk finished his harangue by tweeting that «people should be free to live their lives where their heart takes them».

LGBTQ acceptance is becoming the standard for many corporations. Even automakers, who have long avoided community involvement, are publicly supporting marginalised sexualities. While not every automotive company is onboard, Subaru, Tesla, and Ford have proven themselves as solid corporate allies.