Disney Shareholders Reject Proposal To Sever Ties With LGBTQ Rights Group
Image Source: Disney Connect
At a board meeting on Thursday, Disney investors voted down a proposal to no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual Corporate Equality Index. The CEI reviews corporate policies and practices of the workplace, making sure that those who identify as part of the LGBT+ community are being treated the same as others in the company.
The National Center for Public Policy Research submitted the proposal to the board via its Free Enterprise Project initiative. The proposal read, “When corporations take extreme positions, they destroy shareholder value by alienating large portions of their customers and investors. This proposal provides Disney with an opportunity to move back to neutral.” The proposal noted that Disney has received a perfect score on the CEI since 2007, saying that such can only be attained “by abiding by its partisan, divisive and increasingly radical criteria.”
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The proposal, which also took aim at trans-rights efforts by the HRC and others such as The Trevor Project, was voted down by the shareholders of Disney, with only 1% in favour of it. The board said, in opposing the proposal, “Given the Company’s existing practices to assess participation in transparency efforts and the Board’s oversight of ESG [environmental, social, and governance] reporting, workforce equity matters and human rights policies, we do not believe this proposal would provide additional value to shareholders.”
Eric Bloem, VP of corporate citizenship at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, issued a statement after the vote. “This vote gives us a clear statement of values from Disney’s shareholders. They know what we know – that despite all the noise, commitments to inclusion pay figurative dividends and help their literal bottom line.”
Though this proposal has been voted down, Disney in the last month has scaled down on its diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. The same has happened with companies across America as the Trump administration makes aggressive moves to eliminate DEI initiatives across government and the private sector.
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Source: Variety
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