MINI and Rolls-Royce Added to Gay-Friendly List

By Steve Henricksen

Gaywheels.com is the only website designed specifically for the GLBT automotive consumer. Its mission is to promote responsible consumerism and affect change by encouraging car shoppers to patronize gay-friendly companies throughout their vehicle buying and ownership process. Visitors to the site can research which automakers and other automotive-related companies offer domestic partner benefits to their employees, qualifying them as “gay-friendly” in the website’s eyes. Gaywheels.com also features exclusive new-vehicle reviews by gay writers plus advice on vehicle purchasing, financing and insurance.

Recently, Gaywheels updated its listing of gay-friendly car companies to include two brands previously not on the list ~ MINI and Rolls-Royce (bringing the number of GW “endorsed” brands to 34), both of which are sold in the US by BMW of North America. (Although BMW of NA did begin offering domestic partner benis to US-based employees in their Sales, Marketing and Finance divisions on the first of this year, they did not extend the coverage to employees of their manufacturing facility in South Carolina, thus making them ineligible for the gay-friendly list. However, because MINI and RR are independently operated and did choose to offer benis across the board, they make the list.)