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Disney shareholders voted overwhelmingly to reject a proposal by nay-sayers at the NCPPR to stop participating in a national diversity, equity, and inclusion report.
Some 99% of shareholders voted against the proposal, according to an initial vote count, with Disney expected to share the final results in a filing next week.
At the company’s annual shareholders meeting, the right-wing pressure group National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), asked it to stop using the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index as a benchmark. The index measures companies by policies, benefits, and practices that support LGBTQ+ employees.
"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 group said in a note in the shareholder's proxy statement.
Strong shareholder support for DEI
Ahead of the meeting, the Disney board recommended that shareholders vote against the proposal, writing in the proxy statement that they didn't believe the request "would provide additional value to shareholders.”
Disney has had a perfect score on the Corporate Equality Index every year since 2007. Support for the LGBTQ+ community, however, both within and outside Disney, has come at a cost.
In 2022, the company publicly opposed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's so-called "Don't Say Gay" bill, which bans discussing gender and sexuality in schools. DeSantis lashed out at the entertainment conglomerate, ultimately upending a long-standing arrangement that allowed Disney to self-govern through its Reedy Creek Improvement District.
DeSantis gained control of the Reedy Creek Improvement District and renamed it the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. He appointed its board supervisors, effectively removing Disney's autonomy over development in the area.
Companies backing DEI
Pressure on companies to roll back DEI initiatives increased when Donald Trump took office in January, and immediately signed an executive order to end diversity programs in the federal government and ordered federal DEI staffers to be placed on leave while their departments were cut.
Major companies, like Walmart and Target, have rolled back DEI initiatives amid that new pressure. Other companies, including Apple, Costco, and Delta Airlines have resisted.
