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FILE - Bikers, center, ride a Harley Davidson motorcycle in the annual Pride Parade in San Francisco June 30, 2024. (Minh Connors/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Major companies abandon an LGBTQ+ rights report card after facing anti-diversity backlash

More than two decades ago, a national LGBTQ+ rights group decided to promote change by grading corporations on their workplace policies

By CATHY BUSSEWITZ
Published - Sep 17, 2024, 11:42 AM ET
Last Updated - Sep 17, 2024, 11:42 AM EDT

NEW YORK (AP) — More than two decades ago, when gay men and lesbians were prohibited from serving openly in the U.S. military and no state had legalized same-sex marriages, a national LGBTQ+ rights group decided to promote change by grading corporations on their workplace policies.

The Human Rights Campaign initially focused its report card, named the Corporate Equality Index, on ensuring that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer employees did not face discrimination in hiring and on the job. Just 13 companies received a perfect score in 2002. By last year, 545 businesses did even though the requirements have expanded.

But the scorecard itself has come under attack in recent months by conservative activists who targeted businesses as part of a broader pushback against diversity initiatives. Ford, Harley- Davidson and Lowe’s are among the companies that announced they would no longer participate in the Corporate Equality Index.

Emboldened by a Supreme Court decision last year that declared race-based affirmative action programs in college admissions unconstitutional, conservative groups have won lawsuits making similar arguments about corporations. They’re now targeting workplace initiatives such as diversity programs and hiring practices that prioritize historically marginalized groups, and widening their objections to include programs focused on gender identity and sexual orientation.

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