CEOs spent the past few years adjusting to a world in which investors, customers and employees expected corporate leaders to align themselves with social causes. Today, that has made companies targets in the U.S. culture wars, where one step can turn a social-media storm into a corporate crisis that cripples businesses and wrecks careers.

Some CEOs are rethinking how—or whether—to weigh in on sensitive political or social matters, with trans and other LGBT issues particularly in the spotlight. …

“The divisiveness in the country—the ‘woke’ discussion—it’s got more teeth, it’s got more anger I think than anybody really anticipated,” said Jim Fielding, a former chief executive of retailer Claire’s Stores and a former president of Disney Stores who is now an executive at the media company Archer Gray.

[That’s because the C-suite has lived in the progressive media-Academia bubble for too long. They’re getting a real pushback now because their previous ‘diversity’ virtue signaling was mostly harmless. These days, they’re pushing transgender ideology, especially at children, and parents and others are finally fighting back. It’s a long overdue wake-up call. — Ed]