The hardware retailer Lowe’s just announced that it’s capitulating to pressure from far-right conservatives and removing LGBTQ+ inclusive programs from its company.

Among other announcements, the company will no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s surveys, it will no longer be sponsoring Pride parades, and it will combine all minority-related employee resource groups into one larger group to service every employee demographic.

Related

Harley-Davidson caves to right-wingers & drops affiliation with LGBTQ+ organization
It’s the third big corporation to drop its diversity initiatives after being targeted by one online activist.

Lowe’s still operates a webpage dedicated to advertising diversity on its website. It states, “We’re committed to fostering a culture where every member of the Lowe’s team truly feels they belong. When associates can be their authentic selves at work, they perform at their best—and when that happens, we all win.”

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The pressure allegedly came from far-right influencer and anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theorist Robby Starbuck, who also has led similar successful campaigns against Harley-Davidson, John Deere, and Jack Daniels.

“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 said on X.

Starbuck recently published a LinkedIn post he sent to the vice president of Lowe’s. It’s unclear whether Lowe’s changed its policies in direct response to Starbuck or whether Starbuck’s many fans played a role in pressuring the hardware company.

According to reporter Judd Legum, Starbuck is a conspiracy theorist who has suggested, for example, that chemicals in tap water are turning kids gay. It’s an oft-repeated right-wing conspiracy theory.

Legum states that Starbuck has engaged in anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracies for some time, having released documentaries that claim there is a vast network of government operatives working to push LGBTQ+ rights. Additionally, Starbuck allegedly believes that Pride parades are dedicated to pushing sexual topics onto young people—this claim isn’t based in reality.

Legum, who writes for Popular Info, wrote, “Starbuck frequently promotes anti-LGTBQ views to his social media followers. On X, Starbuck has said that ‘pride events should be age-restricted and only indoors.’ Starbuck has also suggested that trans people want to assault women in public bathrooms and that displaying pride flags around children is ‘grooming and indoctrination.’”

“In June 2023, Starbuck complained about book publisher McGraw Hill celebrating pride, calling the company ‘woke’ and insinuating that those who support LGBTQ rights support pedophilia. ‘They say no matter how you identify, you should be accepted. That means a man can identify as a child’” Starbuck wrote,” according to Legum.