A transgender activist group is pressuring corporations to provide insurance coverage for child sex change drugs and genital surgeries.
The Humans Rights Campaign (HRC) is an LGBTQ+ activist group that champions pediatric sex change interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and sex change surgeries. Since 2002, the HRC has issued their Corporate Equality Index (CEI) survey, which scores corporations based on their commitment to LGBTQ+ activism and adherence to LGBTQ+ ideology; corporations can score up to 100 points if they fulfill all criteria outlined by the HRC.
The HRC claims the benefits of participating in the CEI survey include gaining positive publicity and attracting top talent, noting that the majority of Fortune 500 companies have participated in the survey. Conversely, receiving a low CEI score can make a company a target of media criticism.
However, HRC recently announced they will be updating their 2026 CEI criteria to require corporations offer insurance coverage for child sex change medications to obtain a top CEI score.
The updated criteria state corporations must offer pharmaceutical coverage for sex changes, specifying this includes “puberty blockers for youth.” Corporations will also have to provide insurance coverage for cross-sex hormones and genital surgeries, as well as offer short-term medical leave to transgender individuals.
Additionally, companies can score 10 of the needed 100 points by offering insurance coverage for at least five other transgender healthcare benefits described as “essential services and treatments.” This list of “essential” services includes hair removal required for reconstructive surgery, tracheal shave/reduction, facial feminization surgeries, voice modification surgery, voice modification therapy and lipoplasty/filling for body masculinization or feminization.
HRC has suspended the CEI score of companies they’ve perceived as faltering in their support of the LGBTQ+ agenda. For example, when Bud Light received pushback over their partnership with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney, HRC suspended Anheuser-Busch’s perfect CEI score for not standing by Mulvaney during the controversy, according to the Associated Press.
They’ve also publicly chastised companies attempting to distance themselves from the index.
For instance, Tractor Supply Company, who obtained an almost-perfect CEI score in 2023, recently faced public criticism for engaging in LGBTQ+ activism. After receiving significant pushback, Tractor Supply Company issued a public statement on June 27, 2024, suggesting they were ending their relationship with the HRC and would not be participating in the survey.
HRC responded by launching a petition against Tractor Supply Company which was posted their social media pages and accused the company of “caving to right-wing extremists.”
“Tractor Supply is turning its back on its own neighbors, including LGBTQ+ people, by caving to far-right extremists on social media,” the petition stated. “Tractor Supply’s decision to no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Corporate Equality Index, halt its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts, and desert its carbon emissions goals is only going to hurt customers and families in the communities they call home.”
The CEI is related to the trend of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing, a movement that evaluates companies as targets for investment based on how they align with certain left-wing ideas. Companies with low ESG ratings can be viewed as riskier investments by ESG investors.
In fact, the ESG reports of several Fortune 500 companies such as Walmart, Amazon, and Disney explicitly cite the HRC’s index, and the companies’ respective scores. Two major investment firms, Blackrock and Vanguard, obtained perfect CEI scores in 2023.
If companies want to remain appealing to investors by obtaining a perfect CEI in 2026, they will be required to cover insurance coverage for pediatric sex change medications, such as puberty blockers.
Puberty blockers, which are given to children as young as eight years old, can have irreversible effects such as infertility, bone density loss and disruption of brain development.
The harmful impacts of puberty blockers were acknowledged by top child sex change doctors in a series of private educational recordings hosted by the World Association of Transgender Health (WPATH). The recordings were part of WPATH’s Global Education summit in September 2022 in Montreal, Canada, and exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation through a public records request.
Several European countries, including England and Scotland, have discontinued treating gender distressed children with puberty blockers citing weak evidence to support their use.
In 2023-2024, 1,384 companies participated in the HRC’s Corporate Equality Index with 595 businesses earning a perfect score by meeting all criteria, according to the “Equality 100” page.”
The HRC recently completed their 2025 CEI survey, according to a copy of the survey on their website. To achieve a perfect score, companies had to have written policies that support employee sex changes, support trans-inclusive restrooms and facilities and offer LGBTQ-inclusive products and services.
The HRC has established LGBTQ+ activism criteria for other domains, including the Healthcare Equality Index, State Equality Index, and Municipal Equality Index.
The Human Rights Campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
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