Victor Epstein

vepstein@dmreg.com

Larry Zimpleman, chief executive officer of the Principal Financial Group, established himself as one of the gay community's corporate allies this week, during a company-wide screening of a video supporting gay, lesbian and transgender employees and teens.

Insurance companies and their CEOs have a reputation for being conservative, but Zimpleman indicated that he believes the time for visible change has come amid what one gay advocacy group has called a "watershed year" for workplace equality in corporate America.

Zimpleman, who is chairman of the influential Financial Services Roundtable, spoke during a screening of a new "It Gets Better" video featuring three of his gay, lesbian and transgender workers. The eight-minute-long video the company produced drew a capacity crowd of more than 400 people to the auditorium inside its corporate headquarters in downtown Des Moines on Tuesday.

"It feels like the right thing to do and it is the right thing to do," said Zimpleman, 62, of Cumming. "For me it all comes down to the question of talent. If we're going to be successful we have to have talented people who give it their all every day. For that to work we have to embrace diversity and inclusion so people are not distracted or frightened or scared."

The video is part of the global "It Gets Better" project, which seeks to reduce the elevated suicide rate among gay teens via videotaped messages of hope.

Principal ranks 290th on the Fortune 500 list of America's top companies and is the largest in Iowa. The Des Moines-based insurance and investment management firm has about $450 billion of assets under management and finished first in Iowa on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2014 corporate equality index.

The Washington, D.C.-based foundation is the largest civil rights organization in the U.S. for gay Americans, with more than 1.5 million members. Deena Fidas, director of its workplace equality program, said one of the biggest changes in corporate America this year is the number of executive allies actively working with their gay employee groups.

Principal scored 90 out of a possible 100 on the foundation's annual corporate equality index for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees; 317 of the 931 companies scrutinized fared better. Three hundred and four companies compiled a perfect score this year, compared with just 13 when the index began in 2002.

"For years, Principal Financial Group has demonstrated its commitment to LGBT inclusion by implementing critical workplace protections and benefits for the community," Fidas said.

"With more and more firms like Principal, today's young people will be entering a much more inclusive job market than any prior generation," Fidas said.

The "It Gets Better" project has drawn more than 50,000 videos since it began in September of 2010. It encourages members of the gay community to post videos about their own experiences to give young people hope. It also encourages what it calls "visible allies" to speak out in support of the gay community.

Gay employee groups have posted videos from companies such as Yahoo and Wells Fargo, which is the largest private employer in the Des Moines region.

President Barack Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron have also posted videos.

Despite its conservative reputation, the financial services industry has been active nationally and locally in gay pride parades and other events. Nationwide, ING, Wells Fargo and Principal were among the sponsors of last year's Capital City Pride event in Des Moines.

Principal's public embrace of its gay employees is a far cry from the corporate climate that existed in the U.S. back in 2002, said Betsy Bernard. The Principal board member and former president of AT&T recalled being approached by Fortune magazine to participate in a story about gay executives and being advised by an AT&T public relations staffer to pass up the opportunity to avoid upsetting stakeholders.

"I want to believe that kind of conversation wouldn't happen today," said Bernard, 58.

Rick Gubbels, 56, of Des Moines said he pretended to be straight for decades. Principal's chief privacy officer was one of three employees who spoke about their fears and struggles in the Principal video, which is now available on both its corporate website and YouTube.

"For the gay and lesbian community, and especially for our youth, this video sends a positive message that life gets better," Gubbels said. "The message today is that intolerance is unacceptable in the workplace. ... We're an inclusive workplace where people are judged on their ability to do a good job — regardless of the group they belong to."

Principal Senior Vice President Nora Everett, co-chairwoman of the company's diversity council, said creating a tolerant corporate culture is good for business because it increases a company's ability to attract and retain top employees, and to build teams with a variety of viewpoints.

"It's very easy for me to make the case that you are creating a competitive advantage for yourself when you have a diverse and inclusive team," she said, adding that visible allies are everywhere at Principal.

A 2009 survey by the Iowa Pride Network found that gay high school teens were 56 percent more likely than their straight peers to report considering suicide. The Bullying Statistics website estimates that gay teens are two or three times more likely to commit suicide than other young people — with nearly a third of all teen suicides having a sexual identity component.

Sheryl Moore, whose gay son AJ committed suicide in July, said she was pleased by Zimpleman's stance and the Principal video. The Pleasant Hill resident is still struggling with the loss of the 16-year-old and said she wishes he could have seen the video and its supportive message.

"The Principal is a really conservative company and a force to be reckoned with in the insurance world, and it's great to see them supporting the gay and lesbian community," said Moore, whose son attended Southeast Polk High School. "This would really have helped AJ feel that maybe things do get better and that some people won't hate you just because you love someone of the same gender."

Corporate equality index

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2014 corporate equality index measures workplace equality for gay employees. The Foundation scrutinizes all Fortune 500 companies and any other employers that seek to be included. It rated 932 companies this year on the following categories:

• Non-discrimination policy includes sexual orientation

• Non-discrimination policy includes gender identity and/or expression

• Domestic partner health insurance

• Full parity for partners across all other benefits

• Transgender-inclusive health care coverage

• Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizational competency

• LGBT employee resource group

• Support for LGBT legislation, marketing, philanthropy, supplier diversity

Iowa companies:

Here are the scores for the four Iowa companies the group looked at this year:

• Principal Financial Group: 90

• Rockwell Collins: 90

• Aegon USA Inc.: 20

• Casey's General Stores: No response