Major US retailers are participating in spring ‘retail blackout’ – here is who is closing down for a day

What Your Company’s Pride Sponsorship Supports

Many Americans are asking why corporations continue to fund LGBTQ Pride events that include programming or vendors that most can agree are seen as inappropriate for children. At certain events, attendees may encounter nightclubs, alcohol brands, cannabis dispensaries, or drag performances that often contain sexually suggestive elements. Many families would not ordinarily choose to expose their children to these types of environments, leading some to question why such programming is viewed differently when presented under the banner of LGBTQ+ Pride or “inclusion.” Before sponsoring socially contentious events, companies should carefully consider how they want their brands to be perceived by consumers, shareholders, employees, and the broader public. While stakeholders may hold differing opinions on many social issues, protecting the well-being of children remains a widely shared concern. Corporate sponsorships communicate a company’s values and priorities, making it important to evaluate whether those partnerships support its long-term business objectives and appeal to a broad customer base rather than a narrow segment of the market. NYC Pride is sponsored by Target, which publicly committed in 2025 to stop sponsoring nonbusiness causes. The event includes Youth Pride, a program specifically designed for LGBTQIA+ youth, their families, and allies, with the stated goal of  “empower[ing] …

Companies Reviewing GLP-1 Coverage Should Also Review Transgender Healthcare Coverage 

According to reports earlier this month, Starbucks is ending GLP-1 coverage for its employees. Under its new healthcare plan, Starbucks will no longer cover prescription drugs used for weight loss, but it will continue to cover comprehensive transgender healthcare interventions, including reconstructive surgical procedures and puberty blockers, for covered dependents. Employers are pulling back on GLP-1 coverage largely for the same reason they are reconsidering other benefits: to adjust to rising healthcare costs. RxBenefits reports that GLP-1 drugs cost roughly $1,000–$1,500 per month, while SHRM estimates employers often shoulder 70–100% of prescription drug costs.  With GLP-1s now accounting for around 20% of prescription drug spending and the number of users accelerating, employers face a limited set of choices: tighten eligibility requirements, shift more of the cost to employees or customers, or eliminate coverage altogether.  If companies can reasonably reconsider GLP-1 coverage because of cost, uncertain return on investment, and broader questions over what an employer-sponsored health plan should cover, why should other expensive medical benefits, such as transgender medical interventions, be exempt from similar scrutiny?  According to February 2026 data from the Human Rights Campaign, more than 550 major companies, including Starbucks, offer comprehensive transgender healthcare benefits to employees and covered dependents. While …

Gender Surgery for Minors Faces a Legal Reckoning

Last year, a federal court in Washington State ruled that Premera Blue Cross unlawfully discriminated when it refused to cover elective double mastectomies for two young girls. The decision read like a harsh warning to every employer: exclude gender-transition procedures for children from your health plan and risk an Affordable Care Act discrimination claim. But the story doesn’t end there. In July 2026, the United States filed a brief urging the Ninth Circuit to reject that court’s misguided reasoning. In a 39-page brief supporting Premera’s appeal, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division argues that declining to fund these elective sex-denying surgeries for minors is not sex discrimination. “Far from being discrimination on the basis of sex,” the brief states, “this sensible policy is rooted in biological reality, developmental psychology, and medical diagnosis.” The brief anchors its argument in the Supreme Court’s 2025 decision in United States v. Skrmetti, arguing that “regulating medical procedures on the basis of diagnosis does not automatically amount to discrimination on the basis of sex.” Premera covers a mastectomy for a teenage boy with gynecomastia and for a girl with breast cancer but declines to cover the same surgery when it is performed on healthy adolescents—boys and girls alike. The distinction, the brief argues, is …

Schwab and Walmart get it right on not covering “gender transitions” for minors

Consider the millions of working parents who show up every day at their jobs, work hard to support their families and pay into their company’s healthcare plans. They trust that their premiums will fund genuine medical care, not repeat one of medicine’s darkest mistakes. In our not-so-distant past, frontal lobotomies were performed to “treat” psychiatric conditions — despite limited evidence of effectiveness. The operations had devastating long-term effects and no proven medical benefit. It was not long before the world realized what a serious mistake was being committed and put a stop to this abusive “treatment.” Today’s unproven “gender-affirming” interventions on minors use surgery, hormones and puberty blockers to address a mental health condition with similarly irreversible consequences: permanent sterilization, the removal of healthy organs and lifelong physical and emotional damage. No responsible modern healthcare plan would cover frontal lobotomies, yet many quietly fund these experimental sex-denying procedures on children. Let us not repeat that shameful history on our gender-dysphoric youths. This is not healthcare. These are not medically necessary procedures. These are not minor adjustments or reversible treatments. They are costly, permanently damaging experiments on our children, who lack the maturity and legal capacity to count the cost of …

1792 Exchange applauds the meaningful progress at Charles Schwab

Inspire Investing deserves strong credit for years of dedicated corporate engagement and a broader commitment to policies that advance human dignity, viewpoint diversity, and long-term shareholder value. Inspire began engaging Schwab in 2023, constructively raising key issues around political neutrality, employee benefits, and workplace culture. Their persistence helped bring these matters forward and supported productive, ongoing dialogue with the company. We especially commend Charles Schwab for their action to stop covering medical gender interventions for minors and to exit the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index. The company confirmed to Inspire that its current self-insured health plan, as well as third-party administered plans available to employees, no longer cover gender-transition surgeries or pharmaceutical treatments for minors. Schwab has also ceased participation in the HRC’s index. These steps reflect strong leadership in refocusing on core business priorities rather than ideological agendas. The company further clarified that religious organizations remain eligible for its employee gift-matching program. Based on these developments, Inspire withdrew its shareholder proposal. Schwab is to be applauded as only the second major company we know to publicly taking this step to protect minors (after Walmart). We know other companies have taken or are considering taking similar action, and we encourage …

‘CULTURAL CORRECTION’: 10 Major Brands Dial Back the LGBTQ Pride