Lowe’s has decided to roll back on some of its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives amid apparent pressure from conservative activist Robby Starbuck.
The home improvement retailer said they were no longer participating in surveys for one of the largest and most progressive non-profits, the Human Rights Campaign, according to an email obtained Tuesday by Starbuck. The company also said they were no longer sponsoring parades or festivals and consolidating their employee resource groups for diverse workers into one.
“We will not sponsor and participate in community events that are outside of this scope, such as festivals, parades and fairs. However, should they wish to do so, associates are welcome to engage in their communities and participate in events and activities in their personal capacity.” Lowe’s reportedly said in the email.
Starbuck had emailed Lowe’s executives, stating that he had planned to “expose their 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,” Starbuck wrote Tuesday on Twitter. “We are winning and one by one we WILL bring sanity back to corporate America. So far you’ve helped me change corporate policy at Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley Davidson, Polaris, Indian Motorcycle and now Lowe’s. We are a force to be reckoned with.”
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – FEBRUARY 27: A Lowe’s store stands in Brooklyn on February 27, 2024 in New York City. Lowe’s on Tuesday beat Wall Street’s quarterly earnings and revenue estimates. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Big news: I messaged @Lowes executives last week to let them know that I planned to expose their woke policies. This morning I woke up to an email where they preemptively made big changes.
Here are the changes:
• Ending participation in the @HRC’s woke Corporate Equality Index… pic.twitter.com/qOUr2JLGV7
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) August 26, 2024
A Lowes spokesperson told Bloomberg that they had started making changes before Starbuck had contacted them. (RELATED: John Deere Drops Sweeping Policy Updates That’ll Have Conservative Customers Cheering)
“Our hiring is not and has never been based on numbers or targets. Instead, we hire and promote the best talent so we can provide the best service to our customers,” Lowes’ email read in part.
Harley Davidson downsized its DEI initiatives in August 2024 following a twitter post by Robby Starbuck that revealed such policies. The motorcycle company said they were no longer sponsoring LGBT events and ending its partnership with the Human Rights Campaign.
Brown-Forman, the parent company of Jack Daniel’s, appeared to close their corporate DEI page. They also ended their participation in the Human Right’s Campaign’s and Corporate Equality Index survey, according to an email Starbuck obtained.
Bud Light received massive backlash in April 2023, when an advertisement featuring Dylan Mulvaney went viral. Multiple conservative personalities had called for a boycott of the brand, which resulted in losses of up to $395 million in U.S. sales for AB InBev, CNN reported.
Two Anheuser-Busch marketing executives involved in the Mulvaney marketing ploy left the brand in June 2023. (EXCLUSIVE: SOURCE: Top Anheuser-Busch Marketing Executives Responsible For Boycott Are No Longer Employed)