First published with KPMG in 2017 and now covering four markets, Out Leadership’s board diversity guidelines give any board the model language, matrix templates, self-ID instruments, and D&O questionnaire modules to make its diversity policy LGBTQ+-inclusive — so that, as Out Leadership puts it, any company that wants to can change its policy in ten minutes.
“Companies told us they didn’t have LGBTQ+ inclusive diversity policies, so we wrote them for them.” — Todd Sears, Founder & CEO, Out Leadership
The origin document: the first-ever LGBTQ+-inclusive board diversity guidelines, adopted by 19+ Fortune 500 companies.
Model proxy languageAnnual matrix disclosureD&O questionnaire modulesSelf-ID instrument
Extends the FCA’s gender-and-ethnicity matrix logic to LGBTQ+ — closing the one gap the regulator left open.
Matrix adapted from Nasdaq + FCA templatesVoluntary anonymous self-ID questionnaireModel language: Goldman Sachs, American Express
The only board diversity framework anywhere that is explicitly inclusive of First Nations leaders and veterans.
ASX skills-matrix extensionAHRC cultural-background categoriesFirst Nations & veterans inclusive
Built on HKEX Rule 13.92: every listed company already has a mandatory board diversity policy — adding LGBTQ+ is a one-line amendment.
Built on the mandatory HKEX policyOne-line policy amendmentAnnual-review integration
Quotas in Europe. Comply-or-explain in London and Tokyo. A mandatory policy in Hong Kong. Four designated groups in Ottawa. The machinery of board diversity regulation is everywhere — and in its "LGBTQ+ included?" column there is now only one answer: No. The Nasdaq was the only one, and it’s gone.
What each jurisdiction requires, against our measured 2025–26 disclosure. Regulation drives disclosure: the highest disclosure rates on this site sit exactly where the rules are — none of which mention LGBTQ+ people.
| Market | Mandate | What it requires | LGBTQ+ included? | % disclosing board diversity (2025–26) | LGBTQ+ boards |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States — Nasdaq Nasdaq Board Diversity Rule (2021–2025) | REPEALED | Standardized board diversity matrix (gender, race/ethnicity, LGBTQ+ self-ID) plus two diverse directors or explain — vacated Dec 2024, repealed Feb 2025. | Was — now gone | 73.5% | 954 |
| United States — NYSE No board diversity rule, ever | NONE | Nothing. The NYSE never adopted an equivalent rule — the natural control group. | No | 93.8% | 11 |
| United States — states California SB 826 / AB 979; Illinois disclosure law | STRUCK DOWN | California’s quotas (AB 979 was the first law in the world to include LGBTQ+ people in a board mandate) were struck down in 2022–23. Illinois’ disclosure-only statute — which uniquely includes self-identified LGBTQ+ status — survives. | Illinois only (disclosure) | — | — |
| United Kingdom UK Listing Rules (UKLR 6.6.6R) + Parker Review | COMPLY-OR-EXPLAIN | 40% women on boards, one woman in a senior board role, one ethnic-minority director — with standardized numerical tables for gender and ethnicity. | No | 92.9% | 264 |
| European Union Women on Boards Directive (2022/2381) + national quotas | BINDING QUOTA | 40% of the under-represented sex among non-executive directors (or 33% of all directors) by June 30, 2026 — now in force, with national penalty regimes. Gender only. | No | 57.9% | 15 |
| Australia ASX Principles & Recommendations (4th ed.) | IF NOT, WHY NOT | Diversity policy, measurable gender objectives, 30% of each gender on ASX 300 boards. The draft 5th edition would have added board diversity characteristics including sexuality — withdrawn February 2025. | No — proposed, then withdrawn | 81.6% | 66 |
| Hong Kong HKEX Listing Rule 13.92 + CG Code | MANDATORY POLICY | Every listed company must have and disclose a board diversity policy and review it annually; no single-gender boards from December 31, 2024. Diversity is deliberately undefined — and LGBTQ+ appears nowhere. | No | 96.4% | 6 |
| Japan Corporate Governance Code + TSE Prime targets | COMPLY-OR-EXPLAIN | Diversity policies and measurable targets for women, non-Japanese nationals, and mid-career hires; one female officer by 2025 and 30% women in executive roles by 2030 for Prime Market companies. | No | 53.9% | 67 |
| Canada CBCA diversity disclosure + NI 58-101 | DISCLOSURE (4 GROUPS) | Annual comply-or-explain disclosure on women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and visible minorities — the only law in the world requiring board disclosure beyond gender. LGBTQ+ is not a designated group. | No | 56.8% | 74 |
Disclosure figures are from this site’s 2025–26 dataset for the market’s index (Nasdaq, NYSE 100, FTSE 350, Euronext 100, ASX 200, Hang Seng, Nikkei 225, S&P/TSX). LGBTQ+ boards = companies whose board diversity disclosure explicitly includes LGBTQ+ people.
In the same month — December 2024 — the Fifth Circuit vacated the Nasdaq board diversity rule and Hong Kong’s ban on single-gender boards took full effect. That coincidence is the story of this reporting cycle: the United States dismantled the world’s only LGBTQ+-inclusive listing standard while nearly every other market tightened its board diversity machinery.
The split runs through stewardship too: the same proxy advisors that suspended diversity voting factors for US companies kept — or tightened — them everywhere else. UK, European, and Japanese boards now face stronger investor diversity pressure than their US peers. And the shareholder base never flipped: anti-DEI proposals are rejected by 98–99% of votes at companies like Apple and Costco. The US retreat is legal-risk-driven, not investor-driven.
It is a story of what happens when you pull the scaffolding away from a building and find out whether the foundation holds.
40% — women’s representation rose from ~7% to over 40% in five years. The origin story of the entire field.
A mandatory 40%; France now leads Europe at ~46% women on boards. Italy, Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands followed with quotas or binding targets through 2015.
Canada’s NI 58-101 (2015) and CBCA designated-groups disclosure (2020); Illinois’ uniquely LGBTQ+-inclusive disclosure law (2019); California’s SB 826 (2018) and AB 979 (2020) — the first law in the world to include LGBTQ+ people in a board mandate, later struck down. Out Leadership launches OutQUORUM in 2015 and publishes the first LGBTQ+-inclusive board guidelines with KPMG in 2017.
SEC-approved, citing OutQUORUM research seven times — the first and only listing standard in the world to explicitly include LGBTQ+ people. Nasdaq LGBTQ+-inclusive disclosure rose more than 1,100% under the rule.
The FCA’s Listing Rules targets-disclosure regime (April 2022) and the EU Women on Boards Directive (November 2022) — gender and ethnicity, with tables. No LGBTQ+ field in either.
December 11: the Fifth Circuit vacates the Nasdaq rule. December 31: Hong Kong’s single-gender-board ban takes full effect.
Nasdaq deletes its board diversity provisions. From this date, no stock exchange listing requirement anywhere in the world explicitly includes LGBTQ+ people.
The EU’s 40%/33% targets become binding for listed companies across 27 member states — the same month the OutQUORUM 2026 report cycle closes.
Market-by-market detail, including everything that changed since our last report, is in the region briefings. The measurement itself is in the trends and index dashboards.