DALLAS — Shareholders of the largest oil company in the world recently voted for the 14th year in a row to strike down a proposal that would have added homosexuality to its company non-discrimination policy.

Shareholders of ExxonMobil voted 81% against the proposal, which was submitted by a retirement fund for New York State employees.

“The shareholders request that ExxonMobil amend its written equal employment opportunity policy to explicitly prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and to substantially implement the policy,” the proposal stated.

It noted that the majority of Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies across the nation have included homosexuality in their nondiscrimination policies.

“We believe that corporations that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity have a competitive advantage in recruiting and retaining employees from the widest talent pool,” the proposal said.

But Exxon officials stated that the addition was unnecessary as discrimination of any kind is already prohibited by the company. Therefore, the Board of Directors urged shareholders to vote against the proposal.

“ExxonMobil is committed to having a workplace that facilitates the maximum contribution from all of our employees,” it wrote in an official proxy statement. “While there are many factors that are important to creating this type of environment, one of the most significant is having a workplace that is free from any form of harassment or discrimination.”

“The Board has reviewed in detail ExxonMobil’s existing global policies that prohibit all forms of discrimination, including those based on sexual orientation and gender identity, in any Company workplace, anywhere in the world. In fact, ExxonMobil’s policies go beyond the law and prohibit any form of discrimination,” it continued. “Based on these existing all-inclusive, zero-tolerance policies, the Board believes the proposal is unnecessary.”

Following the vote, homosexual advocates denounced the company for not being “progressive.” The group Force Change created a petition to urge ExxonMobil shareholders to vote differently next year.

“Time and again, you have been offered the chance to add sexual orientation to your official equal employment opportunity statement, and time and again, you have forsaken that chance. You are in a narrowing minority on this issue,” the petition states. “Frankly, you should be ashamed of yourselves. If you do not eventually make the right choice and vote to officially give gays the legal protections that they deserve for merely being human, your business may face serious repercussions.”

However, Christian organizations praised shareholders, opining that the company rightly avoided the snares of the homosexual agenda.

“In a corporate environment dictated by wealthy, pro-homosexual activists, we applaud ExxonMobil for refusing to cede the moral high ground to the special interests of the left,” wrote Family Research Council, headquartered in Washington, D.C. “While other businesses drift away from their principles or capitulate under pressure, this company is putting its stock in something other than political correctness.”

“[A]s ExxonMobil representatives point out, any additions to the nondiscrimination policy are unnecessary,” it continued. “They view the company as a ‘meritocracy,’ where employees are rewarded on the basis of performance–not sexual preference. Their conviction is a refreshing change from companies like Starbucks and Target, who continue to alienate customers with radical political views.”

ExxonMobil is stated to have garnered its second largest profit of all time last year, earning $44.9 billion in income.

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