Renesas Electronics endorses same-sex marriage: putting rainbow colors on their company logo, implementing company policies with consideration for LGBT+ employees

    Renesas Electronics, a major semi-conductor manufacturing company, announced on June 21st that they would be changing their personnel system to include either partners in heterosexual marriages or homosexual partnerships in their definition of spouses. This system will pave the way for queer couples to take different types of leave like marriage, childcare, nursing, etc. It will be applied first in Japan, and then gradually introduced to a new system that leans more on promoting diversity within the company according to the situation within each region and country. Staff can apply with this new system anonymously, and a consultation counter will also be set up to offer advice.

　They can also obtain permission to give their chosen name, more suited to their gender identity, for business use. The company also began adopting guidelines on working with people of diverse gender identities.
　
    "In Renesas, we respect the individuality and the growing ambition of our employees around the world. We are striving to create a company culture that allows everyone to reach their potential. We believe it is important to have diversity and inclusion as the root foundation of a company. We recognize the rights of our employees to be able to work without discrimination and bias, regardless of their gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, age, etc.

　In order to promote diversity and inclusion globally, we established a Diversity Promotion Group (DPG) in June 2021 with about 120 people volunteering to take on the task around the world. With the DPG, we are developing diversity and inclusion policies, alongside promoting this initiative around various regions.

　We are hoping that through this action, more people will be understanding of the LGBTQ+ community and we can foster a system and environment safe for them. We are also hoping that, through this revision of our personnel system, we can continue to promote diversity and inclusion. There are different forms of diversity and including the LGBTQ+ community is just one of several."

(Taken from the official press release)
　
　Furthermore, Renesas did different things for Pride Month on June 1. They put a message in support of the LGBTQ+ community at the top of their website: "In honor of Pride Month." They also changed their logo to incorporate rainbow colours. Additionally, they also endorsed "Business for Marriage Equality" (a movement to legalize and promote same-sex marriage within Japan). Absolutely wonderful news for our community.
　
Reference:
Renesas Electronics recognizes same-sex partnership (Nikkei Shimbun)
https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOUC213630R20C21A6000000/

Source: https://www.outjapan.co.jp/pride_japan/news/2021/6/40.html