LGBTQ+ rights group reports progress at U.S. companies despite conservative backlash

A national rights group says more U.S. companies are providing strong benefits and protections to LGBTQ+ employees despite conservative activists pressuring high-profile brands to stop participating in the organization’s annual workplace report card. The education arm of the Human Rights Campaign released its latest Corporate Equality Index on Tuesday. A day earlier, McDonald’s became the latest big company to say it would no longer provide information for the annual evaluation of policies affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. Last year, Walmart, Ford, Harley-Davidson and other consumer brands said they would end their voluntary participation in the grading system. The HRC rated them anyway.