The question of ‘how America’s biggest brands caved to political activists’ is one with a thousand different answers, from specific turning points like the post-George Floyd DEI-ification of the Fortune 250 to the gradual, institutional, redefinition of business purpose via the term ‘stakeholder capitalism.’ Yet, as companies from Black & Decker to Tractor Supply are saying no to corporate politicization, there are several major actors standing in their way, well-funded and properly entrenched organizations who’ve made destroying fiduciary duty their full-time mission. Perhaps the most effective of these actors? The Human Rights Campaign.
Formed in 1980, the HRC is one of the most prominent LGBTQ activist organizations in the country, and currently serves to advance a partisan, progressive agenda through the corporate policies of America’s most prominent brands. It does so through what’s called the Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a list of criteria that determine how worthy a corporation is of the ever-changing vacuous label of inclusive. What does a company have to do in 2024 to be considered perfectly inclusive? As per a recent HRC criteria list, the truly inclusive company provides employees with features such as:
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