I want to congratulate the Equality Project and all of those who so passionately lobbied Wal-Mart to bar discrimination against gays and lesbians. I am hopeful that Wal-Mart’s decision will be a catalyst, and lead other Fortune 500 businesses to do the same.

My office, on behalf of New York City’s pension funds, has sponsored resolutions calling for Fortune 500 companies to amend their policies to include non-discrimination based on sexual orientation. I am heartened that a number, including Cracker Barrel, Fed-Ex, and J.C. Penney, have since changed their policies. However, I am disappointed that ExxonMobil is the sole holdout among the top 10 companies within the Fortune 500.

Later this year, I will again seek approval from the trustees of New York City’s pension funds to call on ExxonMobil to adopt a policy that specifically bars discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Support has been growing to back this measure: In May, 27.1 percent of ExxonMobil shares were voted in support of such a resolution sponsored by the New York City Employees Retirement System (NYCERS). That represented a 15 percent increase over the previous year.

This is an important human rights issue. We will continue to pursue this for as long as it takes.