Amazon

Amazon received a score of 100 on the 2026 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a political stakeholder group. The company recruits employees based on sexual identity issues. The company discriminates against vendors that do not promote divisive sex and gender policies, indicating it prioritizes sexual issues over merit (1)(2)(3). Amazon received a score of 100 on the 2025 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a political stakeholder group. The company recruits employees based on sexual identity. The company discriminates against vendors that do not promote divisive sex and gender policies, indicating it prioritizes sexual issues over merit (4)(5). Amazon Web Services removed the free speech-focused social media platform Parler’s web presence over concerns of “violent speech,” just as Parler was growing among conservatives (6). The company has also hindered the release of documentaries by or about black conservatives, namely Clarence Thomas (Created Equal was removed from the Amazon Prime streaming service) and Shelby Steele (What Killed Michael Brown was delayed without reason) (7). The company has banned other conservative books, such as Alex Berenson’s book on COVID-19 lockdowns, which was “accidentally” banned (8). The company suddenly removed Matt Walsh’s previously best-selling children’s book from its online retail store (9). The company declined to run paid ads for Matt Walsh’s What is a Woman book, stating that “we don’t allow content that appears to infer or claim to diagnose, treat, reverse or question sexual orientation” (10). Twitch, a subsidiary of Amazon, was a member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media, which demonetized and suppressed content that it deemed to spread “hate speech” or “misinformation”, discuss “debated social issues in a negative or partisan context”, or “vilif[y]” individuals based on sexual orientation and gender identity. These arbitrary guidelines were used to censor mainstream perspectives online (11)(12)(13). In 2021, the company stopped selling Ryan Anderson’s book When Harry Became Sally due to disagreements over the book’s portrayal of transgenderism. However, Amazon reversed this decision in February of 2025 stating that although the book was controversial, Amazon had “erred on the side of being too restrictive” (14)(15)(16). In August of 2024, the company banned filmmaker Robby Starbuck’s The War on Children, which discussed the negative influence of modern gender ideology on children. However, in February 2025, Amazon decided to reverse this decision (17)(18)(19). The company integrates ESG into its business practices. From its Supply Chain Standards: “Suppliers should track, document and, upon request, report greenhouse gas emissions to Amazon. Suppliers are encouraged to establish a greenhouse gas reduction goal and publicly-report against their progress” (20). The company promotes divisive sex and gender policies. Its Supply Chain Standards require international vendors to include sexual orientation and gender identity in their nondiscrimination policy (21).

Amazon’s HRC 2026 CEI rating indicates the company will not donate to non-religious charities unless they embrace controversial sexual identity policies (1)(2)(3) Amazon’s HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company will not donate to non-religious charities unless they embrace controversial sexual identity policies (4)(5). The company does not have an employee matching program but used to donate through AmazonSmile, a program that has labeled Christian groups like Alliance Defending Freedom as hate groups (6). The company retired its AmazonSmile program in February 2023 (7). The company does not publish charitable giving guidelines (8). Amazon likely uses Benevity as its charitable giving platform. Benevity vets charities according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hate List, which includes mainstream libertarian, conservative, family, and religious advocacy organizations (9)(10)(11).

In July 2022, America First Legal filed a lawsuit against Amazon over the company only giving bonuses to Black, Latino, and Native American delivery service partners (1)(2). Amazon’s HRC 2026 CEI rating indicates the company forces employees to attend at least one, controversial training on gender identity, sexual orientation, transgender issues, and divisive racial ideology. The company provides gender transition guidelines for its employees and a specific benefits guide with a comprehensive explanation of transgender services funded by the company (3)(4)(5). The company’s HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company forces employees to attend multiple, controversial trainings on gender identity, sexual orientation, transgender issues, and divisive racial ideology. The company provides gender transition guidelines for its employees and a specific benefits guide with a comprehensive explanation of transgender services funded by the company (6)(7). The company offers gender inclusion training to its employees (8). The company appears to prioritize diversity over merit in its leadership composition. From its 2024 Sustainability Report: The company’s committees and management met to discuss “the Board’s composition, diversity, and skills in the context of identifying and evaluating new director candidates to join the Board” (9). The company’s new “inclusion policy” sets benchmarks for casting, including “30% white women and non-binary people, 20% men from underrepresented races and ethnicities, 20% women and non-binary people from underrepresented races and ethnicities,” indicating that the company bases its hiring practices on identity politics rather than merit (10). The company had a history of DEI language, policies, and initiatives. However, in February 2025, the company pledged to remove all DEI from its company due to the President’s Executive Order (11)(12). The company protects its employees against viewpoint discrimination (13).

Amazon’s HRC 2026 CEI rating indicates the company potentially agrees to allow a controversial stakeholder group focused on sexual identity issues to dictate marketing or advertising strategy. By doing so, the company risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders (1)(2)(3). Amazon’s HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company agrees to allow a controversial stakeholder group focused on sexual identity issues to dictate marketing or advertising strategy. By doing so, the company risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders (4)(5). The company supports various ideological causes, including police reform legislation (6). The company signed an open letter endorsing the Equality Act, a contentious proposal to amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act by adding sexual orientation and so-called gender identity as protected categories. The legislation would, among other implications, grant biological men access to women-only spaces such as sports teams and public restrooms, and compel healthcare providers to deliver sex-denying healthcare (7). The company publicly referred to laws like Georgia’s voting integrity law as an effort to disenfranchise black voters (8). The company opposed the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, which would prohibit teaching gender identity and sexual orientation to kids in K-3rd grade (9). The company’s CEO, Andy Jassy, is a member of the Business Roundtable and former CEO, Jeff Bezos, signed its 2019 Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation, which promotes stakeholder capitalism over traditional obligations to shareholders (10)(11). The company is a Ceres Network Member, committed to carbon neutrality by 2040 (12)(13)(14). The company’s Founder & former CEO, Jeff Bezos, denounced various states’ legislative efforts to protect election integrity and security (15). The company opposed various state and local legislation intended to protect parental rights, girls’ sports, bathroom facilities, and gendered spaces (16)(17). The company opposed legislation in Iowa intended to protect parental rights, girls’ sports, bathroom facilities, and gendered spaces (18). Amazon backed off its commitment to have 50% of its shipments net zero by 2030 (19)(20). The company is committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2040 (21). In January 2025, Amazon sent a memo to its employees announcing its intentions to wind down some of its DEI initiatives. However, Amazon never specifically disclosed what changes it is making (22)(23). The company supports DEI within its business practices. From its Leadership Development and Compensation Committee page: “The Committee oversees and monitors the Company’s strategies and policies related to human capital management within the Company’s workforce, including with respect to policies on diversity and inclusion, workplace environment and safety, and corporate culture” (24). The company supports ESG within its business practices. From its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee page: “The Committee oversees and monitors the Company’s environmental and sustainability policies and initiatives, including the Company’s progress on The Climate Pledge, and risks related to the Company’s operations, supply chain, and customer engagement” (25). The company scored a 100 out of 100 on the 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a political stakeholder group (26)(27). Amazon’s 2024 annual filing with the SEC “omitted a section included in the company’s prior annual report, which indicated Amazon has a focus on ‘inclusion and diversity’ in hiring” (28). On October 17th, 2025, Twitch’s annual Twitchcon in San Diego will feature multiple drag queen events, open to ages 13 and up. Those under 13 can attend with parental consent (29)(30)(31).

Amazon provides a benefits package for employees that covers travel/lodging costs for an abortion and transgender medical procedures for covered employees and dependents, including children (1)(2)(3)(4)(5). Amazon’s HRC 2026 CEI rating indicates the company covers transgender related costs for its employees and their children, including paid short-term leave, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, chest surgeries, genital surgeries, medical visits, lab monitoring, and mental health benefits. The company also covers at least five of the following services: reconstructive hair removal, cosmetic hair removal, tracheal shave or reduction, facial surgeries, voice modification surgery, voice modification therapy, lipoplasty or filling for body masculinization or feminization, and travel and lodging expenses. Additionally, the company has potentially pledged philanthropic support of at least one organization or event that promotes sex and gender ideology. By allowing a political stakeholder group to dictate operations, the company increases health care costs and risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders (6)(7)(8)(9). The company’s HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company covers transgender related costs for its employees and their children, including paid short-term leave, puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, chest surgeries, genital surgeries, medical visits and lab monitoring, travel and lodging. Additionally, the company has pledged philanthropic support of at least one organization or event that promotes sex and gender ideology. By allowing a political stakeholder group to dictate operations, the company increases health care costs and risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders (10)(11). Amazon has funded the American Civil Liberties Union and Black Lives Matter (12). The company has pledged over $100 million to the Black Lives Matter movement and related causes (13)(14). Amazon is a Platinum sponsor of the HRC (15). The company is a member of the MCCA, indicating its focus on recruiting, retaining, and promoting employees based on race (16)(17). Amazon is a copper sponsor of Out & Equal (18). Amazon is a partner of the HRC’s foundation (19)(20). Audible, a subsidiary of Amazon, was a Champion Tier corporate sponsor of the Trevor Project, an organization that advocates for controversial sex and gender ideology, including “gender transition” drugs and surgeries for minors, through legislation, litigation, advertising, and PR campaigns. The organization also hosts online chatrooms that allow adults to communicate with minors as young as 13 about sexually explicit topics. Adults in these chatrooms have encouraged minors to adopt transgender identities and withhold this information from their parents. Prime Video was a Bronze Tier corporate sponsor and Twitch was a Platinum Tier corporate sponsor of the Trevor Project (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27). Audible is a Gold Sponsor of NYC Pride (28). Twitch was a member of the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (29)(30)(31). Amazon was a Diamond level sponsor of the 2025 HRC National Dinner (32). Amazon sponsored the following 4 events in 2025: WorldPride 2025, Pride in the CLE, Nashville Pride, Dallas Pride (33)(34)(35)(36). Otherwise, there are no publicly known cases of Amazon using corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies (37).

The company’s HRC 2025 CEI rating indicates the company publicly advocated for controversial sex and gender ideology through local, state or federal legislation or initiatives. By allowing a political stakeholder group to dictate operations, the company risks dividing employees, alienating customers and harming shareholders (1)(2). In each year from 2018-2024, Amazon donated to the Equality PAC (3)(4)(5)(6)(7). In each year from 2019-2022, as well as in 2024, Amazon lobbied for the Equality Act (8)(9)(10)(11)(12).