Conservative boycotts and threats of lawsuits are forcing more and more major companies to back away from implementing a left-wing LGBTQ rating, and activists are furious that they are “letting the bullies win.”
The movement was documented in an Associated Press report that cited recent examples of major companies like Harley Davidson, Ford Motor Company, and Lowe’s rejecting the ratings.
‘It feels like you’re you’re letting the bullies win.’
Companies have been pressured to implement a Corporate Equality Index created by the Human Rights Campaign in order to force companies to accept left-wing policies to further the LGBTQ agenda on employees. Only 13 companies were able to obtain a perfect score in 2002 on the scorecard, but the number had drastically increased to 545 companies in 2023 despite the requirements becoming more difficult.
Now, the pendulum is swinging back against the scorecard.
“We don’t believe that people should be identified as groups and that you should right past wrongs by advantaging one group and disadvantaging another group,” said deputy counsel Dan Lennington of the Equality Under the Law Project at the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.
David Paisley, senior research director at Community Marketing & Insights, compared the pushback to bullying.
“Almost all LGBT community members have been bullied when they were young, and the concept of being bullied is something that hits us really hard,” said Paisley.
“It feels like you’re you’re letting the bullies win,” he added.
Activists had previously lamented that companies had backed off on hiring diversity, equity, and inclusion officers, which had been a financial boon for left-wing agitators.
Lennington says the pushback is about rejecting discrimination against people who aren’t LGBTQ members.
“We have no problem with nondiscrimination, but we’re worried about these policies going too far and harming innocent third parties who have either religious objections or they’re being excluded because they’re not LGBTQ or a certain race,” he explained.
Eric Bloem, vice president of the Human Rights Campaign, warned that abandoning the programs opened up companies to discrimination lawsuits from LGBTQ people.
Whether that’s true or not, the backlash against DEI policies is gaining momentum.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!