NEW YORK Even though conservative activists are still working to get well-known corporations to withdraw from the organization’s annual workplace report card, a national rights group claimed Tuesday that more American businesses are offering LGBTQ employees robust perks and protections.
The day after McDonald’s became the latest large corporation to announce that it would no longer supply data for the yearly assessment of policies impacting lesbian, homosexual, bisexual, and transgender employees, the Human Rights Campaign’s education arm unveiled its most recent Corporate Equality Index.
Several consumer brands, including Walmart, Ford, Harley-Davidson, and others, said last year that they would no longer voluntarily participate in the grade system. Nevertheless, the HRC assigned them ratings; for instance, Ford received a 75 while Harley-Davidson received a 10 out of 100.
As part of a larger effort to compel companies to drop diversity, equality, and inclusion programs that were intended to lessen discrimination against women, members of racial and ethnic minority groups, and LGBTQ individuals, the index has become a top target for conservative activists.
Critics of DEI programs were encouraged to target colleges, government organizations, and corporations on social media, in court, and in state legislatures when the Supreme Court ruled in 2023 that race-based affirmative action policies in college admissions were unconstitutional. McDonald’s and other businesses have reduced their diversity policies, citing the high court case as justification.
According to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 765 of the 1,449 businesses rated achieved a perfect score, which is 28% greater than the previous year, and the 2025 equality index still featured 72 employers who were first-time participants.
According to a statement from HRC President Kelley Robinson, businesses continue to invest time and money in promoting workplace inclusiveness even while progress occasionally encounters resistance. They attract and keep great personnel, expand their customer base, and become more creative and competitive as a result.
Among the companies who received official ratings were those that declared their intention to withdraw from the process. Months before making their judgments, several people filled out the organization’s poll. According to the HRC, it will keep an eye on and rate enterprises that discontinue operations.
McDonald’s was one of the businesses that received a perfect score of 100. Lowe’s and Walmart both scored 90 points.
The scores are based on points that businesses receive for a variety of workplace indicators, including providing health benefits that address the requirements of transgender people and same-sex couples, as well as having anti-discrimination policies that cover sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression.
This is the second index that gave points for having gender transition policies that supervisors, employees going through a transition, and their coworkers can refer to. According to the HRC, over 1,000 of the businesses rated for 2025 acknowledged using such criteria, a 21% increase.
According to David Glasgow, executive director of the Meltzer Center for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging at NYU School of Law, there are undoubtedly many instances of organizations that have announced that they are withdrawing from certain facets of their DEI practices, such as taking part in this survey. However, the great majority of businesses that previously engaged in DEI continue to do so. The sole distinction is that certain programs are being changed, mostly for legal risk mitigation objectives, and/or more covertly to avoid drawing as much notice and scrutiny.
When the Corporate Equality Index was first introduced in 2002, its main goal was to guarantee that gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer workers would not experience discrimination in the workplace or throughout the employment process. Experts claim that the Index improved job benefits for LGBTQ individuals, and the requirements to receive a perfect score became more stringent over time.
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