{"id":2635403,"date":"2026-07-25T14:28:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T18:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fewer-gay-professionals-feel-being-gay-helps-their-career\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T14:30:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T18:30:30","slug":"fewer-gay-professionals-feel-being-gay-helps-their-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fewer-gay-professionals-feel-being-gay-helps-their-career\/","title":{"rendered":"Fewer Gay Professionals Feel Being Gay Helps Their Career"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffewer-gay-professionals-feel-being-gay-helps-their-career%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2635403&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article discusses a decline in workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts for LGBTQ+ professionals. A recent study shows that the percentage of LGBTQ+ employees who believe being out benefits their careers has dropped from 78% to 49% since 2023, even though 88% still feel comfortable at work. Experts suggest that this is due to companies pulling back from initiatives that support diversity and visibility, which historically improved productivity and engagement. Some critics argue that corporate activism around LGBTQ+ issues has waned, with many businesses reducing participation in LGBTQ+ advocacy programs and emphasizing a shift back to traditional business priorities. Sources also claim that political influences and cultural conflicts have led companies to reconsider their DEI strategies,aiming to focus more on serving all customers and employees without aligning with contentious social movements.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><br \/>\n<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>Workplace DEI may be dying as the majority of gay people no longer think being gay helps them get ahead at work anymore.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The percentage of LGBTQ+ professionals who feel that being out-of-the-closet benefits their careers fell from 78% to 49% since 2023, <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/natlawreview.com\/press-releases\/more-seen-less-certain-new-data-finds-lgbtq-workers-believe-being-out-no\">according<\/a> to an Out Leadership study Thursday. Simultaneously, a record 88% of respondents reported feeling comfortable at work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cTo me, the most striking finding is the divergence, not just the decline,\u201d Out Leadership founder and CEO Todd Sears told the Daily Caller News Foundation. \u201cIn 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Sears told the DCNF that Out Leadership found this pattern across all five global<b> <\/b>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. \u201cThat consistency tells us this is a structural story about how careers work inside companies, not a story about any one country or news cycle,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cHistorically, because of discrimination, LGBTQ+ people did not feel safe being themselves at work \u2014 and anyone, gay or straight, understands what it costs to spend the workday hiding part of who you are.\u00a0 Energy spent covering is energy not spent performing,\u201d Sears said. \u201cSo when companies made deliberate efforts over the past twelve years to identify and develop LGBTQ+ talent, they weren\u2019t trying to give anyone an advantage; they were removing a drag on performance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">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.<b><strong class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__textBold\">  \u201c<\/strong><\/b>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,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cWhat\u2019s changed in the last two years is not on the talent side of the equation, it\u2019s on the demand side.\u00a0Many 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,\u201d Sears said when asked what Out Leadership believes may be contributing to that drop.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cWhen companies stop signaling that difference is valued, leaders draw the rational conclusion that the qualities they bring\u2014resilience, empathy, the ability to navigate across audiences and markets\u2014are no longer recognized as leadership assets.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">However, some sources argue that LGBTQ+ corporate practices aren\u2019t actually beneficial for businesses.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s 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,\u201d 1792 Exchange executive vice president Greg Scott told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">The 1792 Exchange is a nonprofit whose mission \u201cis \u2018helping businesses get back to business\u2019 by influencing American companies to advance principles including free speech, freedom of religion, and free enterprise,\u201d according to its <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/1792exchange.com\/about\/\">website<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cMany companies have seen that taking sides in political battles presents few benefits and carries intolerable reputational risk. It\u2019s not speculation or mere vibing to say that businesses are increasingly getting back to business and leaving the culture wars behind,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Scott told the DCNF that 65% of Fortune 500 companies <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/1792exchange.com\/1792-insights\/the-corporate-social-credit-system-is-collapsing\/\">stopped participating<\/a> in the Human Rights Campaign (HRC)\u2019s Corporate Equality Index survey in one year. He also said that HRC lost <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/1792exchange.com\/1792-insights\/hrc-national-dinner-sponsorships-plummet-54-5\/\">half its annual dinner sponsors<\/a> in one year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cThese are just two indicators that many businesses are renewing their commitment to serve all their customers, holders, and employees, rather than bow the knee to special interests,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Another source stressed the political pressure that appeared to prop up LGBTQ+ corporate practices over the years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cAmerica\u2019s 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,\u201d Consumers\u2019 Research executive director Will Hild told the DCNF.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">Consumers\u2019 Research is the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/americans-likely-to-be-tracked-for-co2-emissions-under-secs-new-climate-rule-consumers-research\/\" title=\"Americans Likely to Be Tracked for CO2 Emissions Under SEC\u2019s New Climate Rule: ...\">oldest consumer protection organization<\/a> in the United States, according to its <a class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__link\" href=\"https:\/\/consumersresearch.org\/will-hild\/\">website<\/a>. Hild shifted the nonprofit\u2019s focus to combat \u201cwoke capitalism\u201d after taking the helm in 2020.<\/p>\n<p class=\"LexicalEditorTheme__paragraph\">\u201cPresident Trump has rightly pointed out that DEI policies are illegal and should be stopped, and thanks to his administration, we\u2019re 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,\u201d Hild said.<\/p>\n<div class=\"disclaimer\">\n<p>All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter\u2019s byline and their DCNF affiliation. 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