United States
The proving ground — and the stress test
The US is where OutQUORUM invented the conversation — from 2 Fortune 500 companies with LGBTQ+-inclusive board policies in 2015 to 155 by 2024 — and where the Nasdaq rule proved that policy works. With that rule repealed in February 2025, the US is now the test of which commitments were values and which were compliance.
NASDAQ →Fortune 1000 →NYSE 100 →Russell 3000 →
The regulatory framework
For three years the US had the only stock exchange listing rule in the world that explicitly included LGBTQ+ people in board diversity disclosure. That rule is gone, and no federal, state, or exchange-level mechanism has replaced it — board diversity disclosure in the US is now entirely voluntary.
The Nasdaq Board Diversity Rule (2021–2025)
SEC-approved in August 2021, the rule required listed companies to publish a standardized board diversity matrix — gender, race/ethnicity, and LGBTQ+ self-identification — and to have, or explain why they did not have, two diverse directors. Nasdaq cited OutQUORUM research seven times in its SEC application. The Fifth Circuit vacated the SEC’s approval in December 2024, and the repeal became effective February 4, 2025.
The NYSE: the control group
The New York Stock Exchange has never had a board diversity rule — which makes it the natural control group. In 2024, the NYSE 100’s LGBTQ+ policy rate ran at less than half of Nasdaq’s.
State laws: struck down or disclosure-only
California’s SB 826 (gender, 2018) and AB 979 (2020 — the first law in the world to include LGBTQ+ people in a board mandate) were both struck down in state and federal court rulings in 2022–2023. Disclosure-only statutes survive: Illinois (2019) uniquely requires reporting of self-identified LGBTQ+ status, alongside gender and race.
Investors and proxy advisors in retreat
In early 2025, ISS indefinitely suspended board diversity as a US voting factor, and BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street stripped numerical diversity expectations from their US proxy guidelines. Glass Lewis retains a 30% diversity benchmark through 2026 — the last major US stewardship lever that references board diversity.
What has not flipped: shareholders
Anti-DEI shareholder proposals rose to 40% of all DEI-related proposals — and are rejected by roughly 98–99% of shareholders at companies like Apple, Costco, and Goldman Sachs. The retreat is legal-risk-driven, not shareholder-driven.
What changed since our last report
Dated developments from mid-2024 through July 2026, compiled for the OutQUORUM 2026 cycle. Each item links to its source.
- Dec 11, 2024 VACATED
Fifth Circuit vacates SEC approval of the Nasdaq board diversity rules
In a 9–8 en banc decision in Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment v. SEC, the Fifth Circuit held the SEC exceeded its authority in approving the 2021 rules — the only listing standard anywhere in the world requiring disclosure of LGBTQ+ board representation.
- Feb 4, 2025 REPEALED
Nasdaq formally repeals the diversity rules; SEC signs off
Rather than seek Supreme Court review, Nasdaq filed rule change SR-NASDAQ-2025-007 deleting the board diversity provisions. Voluntary disclosure remains permitted; no successor rule has been proposed by any US exchange.
- Jan 21, 2025 ENACTED
Executive Order 14173 targets private-sector DEI
The order directs federal agencies to "combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences," including identifying publicly traded companies for potential civil compliance investigations. Law firms advised public companies to scrub proxy references to director diversity.
- Jan–Mar 2025 POLICY
ISS suspends US diversity voting factors; the Big Three strip diversity targets
ISS indefinitely stopped considering board gender and racial/ethnic diversity in US vote recommendations. BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street removed numerical board-diversity expectations from their US proxy voting guidelines.
- Jan–Feb 2025 DATA
Shareholders overwhelmingly reject anti-DEI proposals at Costco and Apple
Costco shareholders voted ~98% against an anti-DEI proposal; over 97% of Apple shareholders rejected a proposal to end its DEI programs — early signals that anti-DEI activism commands attention but minimal investor support.
- Sep 2025 WITHDRAWN
SEC withdraws its board-diversity and human-capital disclosure rulemaking
The SEC’s Spring 2025 regulatory agenda rescinded the long-pending proposals on board diversity and human capital disclosure, closing the door on a federal board-diversity disclosure mandate for the foreseeable future.
- Aug 2025 DATA
The Conference Board quantifies the disclosure collapse
From 2024 to 2025, companies reporting board director race/ethnicity fell 40% in the Russell 3000 and 32% in the S&P 500; S&P 500 board-diversity disclosure of any kind fell from 99% to 78%.
- Feb 4, 2026 DATA
Fortune 500 participation in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index collapses 65%
Only 131 Fortune 500 companies submitted to the 2026 Corporate Equality Index, down from 377 — the sharpest one-year drop in the benchmark’s history, and a direct read on the retreat from voluntary LGBTQ+-related disclosure.
- Jun 2026 DATA
2026 proxy season: anti-DEI proposals dominate — and fail
Board-diversity shareholder proposals fell from 26.5% of DEI-related proposals in 2024 to 2.0% in 2026. Anti-DEI proposals became the dominant form of DEI activism, but every voted proposal failed, with median support under 2%.
When you think about boards and everything they have to do, the job is so hard and so important, you need every type of person you can get around that table. It’s a good time to focus on LGBTQ+ diversity, because it hasn’t historically been included.
The data
Four US indices tell three different stories: the Nasdaq and Russell 3000 show the compliance layer unwinding — LGBTQ+ is the targeted dimension while gender, race, and age disclosure held or rose. The Fortune 1000, never covered by the rule, shows the business case holding better. The NYSE 100 shows what no rule ever looked like.
NASDAQ
Full dashboard →Fortune 1000
Full dashboard →NYSE 100
Full dashboard →Russell 3000
Full dashboard →Our guidelines
LGBTQ+ Visibility Counts: Board Demographics Reporting Guidelines
First published 2017 · current edition 2020 · Produced with KPMG
The origin document of the whole program: the first-ever LGBTQ+-inclusive board diversity guidelines, with matrix-format annual disclosure, a D&O questionnaire self-ID template, and model proxy language. Adopted by 19+ Fortune 500 companies.
Read the guidelines at outleadership.com