The nations biggest companies are increasingly stepping back from publicly sharing their , marking a sharp break from recent years.
The Human Rights Campaign Foundations 2026 Corporate Equality Index, released in February, found a 65% drop in Fortune 500 participation, with 131 companies submitting information for evaluation this year, down from 377 in 2025.
Dustin DeVito, head of research at the conservative watchdog 1792 Exchange, called the decline “shocking,” in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“But this year, it’s totally fallen apart,” DeVito said.
HRC says the drop in submissions does not necessarily mean companies are abandoning workplace inclusion policies altogether.
“Instead, the decline in submissions reflects a shift in how employers are approaching transparency in the current environment,” the report says. HRC also said policy implementation among companies that did participate was “sustained or increased” across the criteria measured from 2025 to 2026.
The report says 534 companies earned a perfect score for LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion policies in this years index.
DeVito questioned the groups transparency, noting that HRC did not identify the companies that received perfect scores in the body of this years report or list individuals serving on the HRC Business Advisory Council, as it had done in past reports.
He also said the report no longer shows the same level of detail on company profiles about the policies companies submitted for review, which he argued shields companies from scrutiny.
“Theyre upset that companies are not being transparent, yet theyre also contributing to the lack of transparency,” DeVito said.
1792 Exchange, which tracks corporate activism and advocates for more politically neutral business practices, says that despite the decline in participation, some underlying DEI workplace policies have remained in place.
The group noted that this year’s index shows 72% of Fortune 500 companies offer . DeVito said this years CEI also expanded certain transgender-care coverage requirements for companies seeking a perfect score.
Even so, many corporations have moved away from DEI language in public communications in recent years. Gravity Research reported in November that “the term DEI fell 98% across Fortune 100 communications.” The report analyzed more than 1,000 corporate documents from January 2023 to May 2025.
That shift has unfolded as the down on DEI programs in the private sector. In January 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to “end illegal DEI discrimination and preferences” while directing federal agencies to take steps to encourage private sector companies to end illicit DEI policies through regulatory actions, investigations, litigation or other means.
Several companies, including Starbucks, Nike and JPMorgan Chase, have also alleging their DEI hiring practices are discriminatory.
According to 1792, at least 26 companies have publicly retreated from participating in the Corporate Equality Index, including Tractor Supply Company, Harley-Davidson, Lowes, Nissan, Walmart, McDonalds and Target.
HRC President Kelley Robinson said in the report that while it remains illegal to discriminate against LGBTQ+ workers, she noted in the group’s report that “pressure from the federal government has been unprecedented, rolling back protections, publishing executive orders and threat
