When North Carolina lawmakers approved legislation in 2016 to bar transgender people from bathroom and changing facilities that aligned with their gender identity, some of the largest corporations and organizations in the world protested with their wallets.
The NBA relocated its All-Star Game. The NCAA pulled hosting rights for seven tournaments and championships. PayPal canceled a planned expansion in Charlotte. Deutsche Bank halted a planned expansion in Cary. Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, Ani DiFranco and Cirque du Soleil cancelled concerts and events.
All told, the Associated Press estimated the law, House Bill 2, would cost the state more than $3.7 billion over the following 12 years.
On Friday, Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed legislation removing anti-discrimination protections for transgender residents from the state’s civil rights act. Nearly a decade after the uproar in North Carolina, corporate America had nothing to say about a bill that marked the first time any state has removed civil rights protections for a protected class.
The wave of legislation targeting transgender Americans in recent years has generated virtually no response from corporations that until recently saw an economic benefit to speaking out. Those calculations have now shifted, and public relations experts and executives say they are now advising clients to be cautious about the fraught politics of the moment.
“In the current environment, companies are being more cautious about what they choose to speak about publicly,” said Dana Yeganian, a partner at Global Strategy Group, a Democratic-leaning firm. “We advise clients to of course listen first. What do their employees say and want, what do their customers say and want, what do their shareholders say and want, what do their communities say and want?”
Some in the public relations business point to the fallout from the murder of George Floyd, the Minnesota man whose death at the hands of police sparked the Black Lives Matter movement and national protests.
The more recent opposition to diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at businesses and universities, spurred by constant criticism from conservative news outlets and the Trump administration, has had a chilling effect on corporate speech.
The age of activism has given way to an age of caution. And it’s no accident.
“Much of the blowback for taking positions on social or environmental issues was inorganic, but the organic protests freaked people out,” said Patrick O’Connor, a partner at Narrative Strategies, a Washington-based firm that advises clients on strategic communications. “Most companies are risk averse, especially when it comes to anything deemed political, and I think people inside many of these businesses didn’t love brands or executives draping themselves in the DEI flag.”
Supporters of legislation that targets transgender Americans and DEI initiatives have also employed a new strategy designed to overwhelm the opposition.
North Carolina’s House Bill 2 spurred fury at one state’s actions. Today, hundreds of bills rolling back both transgender rights and DEI initiatives are being debated in almost every state in the nation.
It is easy to target one state with a boycott or a protest. It is impossible to do so when every red state in America is advancing legislation.
“Some companies are waiting for someone to do it first,” Yeganian said. “And not just on trans issues, but on any controversial issue.”