Workplace DEI may be dying as the majority of gay people no longer think being gay helps them get ahead at work anymore.
The percentage of LGBTQ+ professionals who feel that being out-of-the-closet benefits their careers fell from 78% to 49% since 2023, according to an Out Leadership study Thursday. Simultaneously, a record 88% of respondents reported feeling comfortable at work.
“To me, the most striking finding is the divergence, not just the decline,” Out Leadership founder and CEO Todd Sears told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “In other words, people are not going back into the closet (yet, but I think more will in this current environment); they are questioning whether personal visibility and authenticity will translate into advancement.”
Sears told the DCNF that Out Leadership found this pattern across all five global regions they surveyed and across every generation, with Gen Z reporting the sharpest drop. These regions included the U.S., Europe, Asia-Pacific, Australia/Oceania, and South America. “That consistency tells us this is a structural story about how careers work inside companies, not a story about any one country or news cycle,” he said.
“Historically, because of discrimination, LGBTQ+ people did not feel safe being themselves at work — and anyone, gay or straight, understands what it costs to spend the workday hiding part of who you are. Energy spent covering is energy not spent performing,” Sears said. “So when companies made deliberate efforts over the past twelve years to identify and develop LGBTQ+ talent, they weren’t trying to give anyone an advantage; they were removing a drag on performance.”
Sears claimed that deliberate efforts to help LGBTQ+ professional feel comfortable at work provided businesses higher productivity, higher engagement, lower turnover, and a better bottom line. “A generation of leaders learned they could bring their full perspective to the organization, and companies benefited from the difference of insight that came with it,” he said.
“What’s changed in the last two years is not on the talent side of the equation, it’s on the demand side. Many companies have stopped actively seeking out difference of perspective in their recruiting and retention efforts, and have pulled back from the systems that turned that openness into leadership: sponsorship, development, and visible evidence that people who bring a different point of view actually advance,” Sears said when asked what Out Leadership believes may be contributing to that drop. “When companies stop signaling that difference is valued, leaders draw the rational conclusion that the qualities they bring—resilience, empathy, the ability to navigate across audiences and markets—are no longer recognized as leadership assets.”
However, some sources argue that LGBTQ+ corporate practices aren’t actually beneficial for businesses.
“It’s interesting to see activist groups openly confess to exploiting sexual and gender identity to get ahead in the workplace. But even more interesting is that the most radical ideologues are now admitting that the spell is wearing off,” 1792 Exchange executive vice president Greg Scott told the DCNF.
The 1792 Exchange is a nonprofit whose mission “is ‘helping businesses get back to business’ by influencing American companies to advance principles including free speech, freedom of religion, and free enterprise,” according to its website.
“Many companies have seen that taking sides in political battles presents few benefits and carries intolerable reputational risk. It’s not speculation or mere vibing to say that businesses are increasingly getting back to business and leaving the culture wars behind,” Scott said.
Scott told the DCNF that 65% of Fortune 500 companies stopped participating in the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)’s Corporate Equality Index survey in one year. He also said that HRC lost half its annual dinner sponsors in one year.
“These are just two indicators that many businesses are renewing their commitment to serve all their customers, shareholders, and employees, rather than bow the knee to special interests,” Scott said.
Another source stressed the political pressure that appeared to prop up LGBTQ+ corporate practices over the years.
“America’s companies spent years chasing woke agendas like DEI, transgender ideology, and climate activism instead of staying focused on their customers. That kind of political activism has real consequences, and too often the people hurt most are the consumers,” Consumers’ Research executive director Will Hild told the DCNF.
Consumers’ Research is the oldest consumer protection organization in the United States, according to its website. Hild shifted the nonprofit’s focus to combat “woke capitalism” after taking the helm in 2020.
“President Trump has rightly pointed out that DEI policies are illegal and should be stopped, and thanks to his administration, we’re finally seeing some of these misguided policies reversed. Companies should be focused on delivering the best goods and services possible, not catering to the demands of the woke left,” Hild said.
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