In the ‘70s, teenage boys had posters of the all-American girl Farrah Fawcett wearing a red one-piece swimsuit. The ‘90s crowned Cindy Crawford the Pepsi girl, sporting Daisy Mae-style cutoffs and a midriff-baring T-shirt. But hold your Bud Light beer: It’s 2023, and transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney is the newest face of the movement. If you haven’t heard of Mulvaney, you will soon enough, thanks to the Corporate Equality Index (CEI) that is pressuring companies to bend to the will of the LGBTQ community.
Coca-Cola, Anheuser-Busch, and Nike are already lapping each other, attempting to please the George Soros-funded Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the world’s largest LGBTQ lobbying organization. So, congratulations are in order to Walmart for topping the list of businesses embracing the fringes. But, then again, anyone who has ever shopped there at 3 a.m. is no stranger to the fringes. But to please those who must be heard, companies are handing out lucrative contracts to otherwise unknown and unfollowed D-list celebrities, such as the aforementioned Mulvaney. HRC created this index in 2002 to grade companies from excellent to poor places to work for those who feel marginalized in the real world. Twenty-one years later, the CEI has corporate America in its clutches.
CEI Steps to Be Loved by LGBTQ
The CEI uses a scoring mechanism that leaves no room for error in seeking the 100 points of acceptance. Here is how your business can move up in the LGBTQ world.
Workforce Protections (5 points possible)
Inclusive Benefits (50 points possible)
Supporting an Inclusive Culture (25 points possible)
Corporate Social Responsibility (20 points possible)
Translation: No one will be discriminated against for identity or sexual proclivities in the restroom; every employee has full benefits; all other employees will be indoctrinated in the LGBTQ way of thinking; and the company must advertise for the community and donate large sums of money to an LGBTQ cause. Whether through fear or indulgence, the CEI has proven to be a significant factor in how American businesses have adjusted to the times.
On the HRC website, the numbers are impressive:
“258 OF THE FORTUNE 500-RANKED BUSINESSES achieved a 100 percent rating (compared to 233 last year), with 15 of the top 20 Fortune-ranked businesses at this top score. 93 percent of the Fortune 500 include ‘sexual orientation’ in their nondiscrimination policies and 91 percent include ‘gender identity.’ Over 66 percent of Fortune 500 companies offer transgender-inclusive healthcare benefits.”
What is there left to complain about? Ah, well, there is the other side of the coin. The CEI ranking is run more “like an extortion racket, like the Mafia,” claimed James Lindsay, who has the New Discourses political podcast. “They give them a list of demands, and if they don’t follow through, there’s a threat that you won’t keep your CEI score.”
Caitlyn Jenner (Photo by JC Olivera/Getty Images)
Caitlyn Jenner was incensed at the pandering process and tweeted: “As someone that grew up in awe of what Phil Knight [co-founder of Nike] did, it is a shame to see such an iconic American company go so woke! We can be inclusive but not at the expense of the mass majority of people and have some decency while being inclusive. This is an outrage.”
Country mega-stars Travis Tritt and John Rich threw a fit, as is their right, and removed anything Anheuser-Busch from their popular tours. Rap-rocker Kid Rock shot up three cases of Bud Light to prove a point: Not everyone is happy with this latest development or worried about a CEI score.
So what? In the long run, does the CEI score matter to anyone except the LGBTQ community? It is designed to ferret out the best places for those identifying as part of this community to find a great job with equal benefits and acceptance.
LGBTQ To-Do List
Short of world domination, the HRC still believes there is much to do, and it starts with children, who are encouraged to identify as their opposite gender, cats, or whatever suits their fancy. According to a Reuters report, “at least 121,882 children ages 6 to 17 were diagnosed with gender dysphoria from 2017 through 2021.” The Williams Institute also backs those figures: “There are more than 300,000 high school-aged (ages 13-17) transgender youth in the United States today, many who need gender affirming care. Half of these youth live in states in which transgender youth have lost access to, or are at risk of losing access to, gender-affirming care, because of discriminatory laws and policies.” Yes, the next major push is overturning legislation that is prohibitive for children and young people, according to HRC:
“As of April 3, 2023, we are tracking more than 800 anti-LGBTQ+ bills across the country. Many of these -- more than 110 -- would limit or prevent transgender people from accessing gender-affirming care, while others are bathroom bans, curriculum censorship bills or anti-drag performance bills.”
Perhaps Mulvaney, is less of a threat and more of a useful tool, soon to be put away after that CEI score is sealed for another year. Once the advertising campaign has run its course, expect Mulvaney to return to Tik Tok and to be replaced by a Clydesdale.
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