Disney shareholders have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal from a conservative think tank that sought to distance the company from LGBTQ inclusion efforts. At Disney’s annual shareholder meeting, the National Center for Public Policy Research urged the company to stop using the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index (CEI) as a benchmark for workplace policies. The proposal gained little traction as 99% of shareholders voted no. Disney’s board had already recommended voting against it, stating that removing the company from the CEI would not provide any additional value to shareholders.
Eric Bloem, vice president of corporate citizenship at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation has praised the outcome. Disney has consistently earned a perfect score on the CEI since 2007. This vote stands in contrast to recent anti-DEI actions by major corporations like Paramount and Google, as well as rollbacks in government programs under the Trump administration. Disney is also believed to have the largest LGBTQ employee base of any corporation in the world and the vote is viewed by queer activists as a vote of support for its employees.
