By Gautam Raghavan

Recently, high stakes betters are shifting their focus from March Madness to an even more intense and high stakes contest: the selection of Amazon’s second headquarters (“HQ2”).

Competition for Amazon’s second headquarters has been fierce. Last October, nearly 250 proposals representing 54 North American states, provinces, and territories were submitted for Amazon’s review. In January of this year, Amazon announced an initial short list of 20 finalists, prompting speculation by serious scholars and neighborhood bookies alike: Will Amazon choose a location based on key economic factors like strong infrastructure and tax incentives? Or will they be swayed by more subjective criteria like quality of life and host city friendliness?

But one important question got lost in the midst of all this analysis: Will Amazon choose a location where all of its employees are treated equally under the law?

It may be hard to believe that despite the progress of the last decade — repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” expanding marriage equality to every state in the nation, growing awareness of transgender people and their rights — today, no federal law explicitly protects lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) workers from discrimination.

The stakes are high for LGBTQ workers and their families. According to the Williams Institute, LGBTQ workers earn less and face higher unemployment rates than non-LGBTQ individuals, which means they are especially dependent on the protection of nondiscrimination laws and policies to ensure they have a fair shot at the American Dream. And yet, in 32 states, LGBTQ people are not fully protected from discrimination in the workplace, housing, and public spaces.

Nine of those states are among Amazon’s 20 finalists, prompting a group of advocates to a new initiative — “No Gay? No Way!” — focused on dissuading Amazon from selecting an anti-equality city or state for HQ2.

The organizers of “No Gay? No Way!” have a strong case. The American workforce functions better when workers can focus on their job instead of worrying about being fired because of who they are. Corporate America understands this, which is why the private sector has historically been at the forefront of workplace equality. Today, the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies, including Amazon, have policies to protect their LGBTQ employees.

But corporate and municipal policies are not enough. Even the most pro-equality employer cannot guarantee that once their employee leaves the workplace they will not encounter discrimination in a taxi on the way home, or from their landlord, or in their kids’ school, or at the local bakery — all factors that rightfully dictate where LGBTQ workers choose to work and call home.

That kind of discrimination isn’t just unfair and un-American; it can leads to millions in lost revenues. Consider North Carolina’s HB2, the anti-transgender “bathroom bill,” which caused the state to lose nearly $400 million in business, including losing NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference tournaments. Or Indiana’s “religious freedom bill,” which cost the city of Indianapolis $60 million in business.

That’s why businesses in states like Texas and Georgia, having seen the economic backlash of discriminatory laws, strongly opposed proposed anti-LGBTQ bills in recent years. And in fact, just a few weeks ago, a broad coalition of businesses spoke out strongly against Proposition 1 — an anti-transgender ballot measure in Anchorage, Alaska — leading voters to soundly reject the measure.

It’s clear that Amazon is already concerned about the health and well-being of their employees. After all, their headquarters bid specifically highlights the importance of “the presence and support of a diverse population” and “a stable and consistent business climate.” It remains to be seen whether those considerations will explicitly include LGBTQ workers, but in the meantime this discussion raises an important question: What will it take to move us closer to an America where all our workers are welcome everywhere?

Gautam Raghavan is an advisor for LGBTQ equality at the Biden Foundation. Previously, he served as vice president of policy for the Gill Foundation and LGBTQ liaison for the Obama-Biden White House.