Lowe’s becomes latest company to dial back DEI efforts aimed at LGBTQ groups

Home goods retailer Lowe’s is paring back its efforts to promote LGBTQ inclusion — the latest large company to respond to a growing cultural backlash led by conservatives targeting queer representation in public life.

In an internal company memo being widely shared among media organizations, Lowe’s told employees it was ending its participation in surveys for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the country’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, and would also combine company resource groups designed to support minority employees into one umbrella organization.

The company said it would also end sponsorship and participation in community events such as parades, festivals or fairs — a reference to Pride parades. As recently as 2019, Lowe’s was a sponsor of the Pride parade in Charlotte, North Carolina.

A company spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.

Though some media reports suggested Lowe’s was reversing its diversity efforts writ large, the changes appear to specifically target LGBTQ representation. Lowe’s has previously won praise as a diversity champion — it earned a perfect score in HRC’s most recent corporate equity index that examines its policies protecting LGBTQ workers.

Since 2018, Lowe’s has been led by an African American CEO, Marvin Ellison; in June, Ellison was named Ethical Leader of the Year by the Society for Human Resource Management, the country’s largest HR organization.

As of Tuesday morning, Lowe’s continued to operate a webpage dedicated to its diversity efforts.

“We’re committed to fostering a culture where every member of the Lowe’s team truly feels they belong,’ it says. ‘When associates can be their authentic selves at work, they perform at their best — and when that happens, we all win.”

The page features a quote from its director of human resources: ‘On our team, we care about the whole you. We’ve built an environment where different viewpoints and backgrounds are respected and valued.’

Lowe’s changes follow closely on the heels of announcements by Harley Davidson and Jack Daniel’s parent, Brown-Forman, as well as similar changes this year by Tractor Supply, John Deere and Best Buy. The New York state comptroller, which manages the state’s $207 billion public pension fund, which has investments in Best Buy, then questioned the company’s commitment to inclusivity and supporting the LGBTQ community.

The unofficial leader of the corporate pressure campaign is Robby Starbuck, a video streamer and right-wing online activist. Monday, Starbuck posted on X claiming that he helped provoke the changes at Lowe’s, saying he received an email from a Lowe’s executive in response to a warning he sent the company that he planned to ‘expose’ its ‘woke’ policies.

‘We’re now forcing multi-billion dollar organizations to change their policies without even posting just from fear they have of being the next company that we expose,’ he wrote. ‘We are winning and one by one we WILL bring sanity back to corporate America.’

Starbuck did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.

Lowe’s reversal shows a conservative push against queer rights that began with Target and Bud Light in previous years continues apace, and it has helped clarify that the campaign against ‘woke’ is more often than not an effort to silence LGBTQ voices.

In a statement, Orlando Gonzales, HRC’s senior vice president of programs, research and training, said in an emailed statement: “Hasty, shortsighted decisions contrary to safe and inclusive workplaces will create a snowball effect of negative long-term consequences for companies, cutting them off from top talent, turning off LGBTQ+ and other consumers, and impacting companies’ bottom line.”

‘Retreating from these principles undermines both consumer trust and employee success,” Gonzales said.