Lowe’s the Latest to Abandon DEI: ‘Divisive Issues Don’t Belong in the Workplace’

A rising number of U.S. companies are publicly backing away from controversial, progressive policies like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), including Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply Co., and most recently Lowe’s.

The announcement that Lowe’s pulled back from its DEI initiatives came from Robby Starbuck, the conservative activist known for exposing radical leftist agendas. “Big news,” he posted on X. “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.”

His post went on to thank his supporters for helping him move these companies to make these changes. He wrote, “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. We are winning and one by one we WILL bring sanity back to corporate America.” In response, many commented their excitement at the recent news. One user stated, “Well done. The dam is cracked, leaking and about to give way. Keep it up.” Another posted, “Thanks for exposing this! We shop where people are friendly to our values!”

As Starbuck went on to explain, there are a number of changes Lowe’s announced they would implement: “No more donations to pride events or other divisive events,” “ending [employee resource group] ERG … in favor of one large unifying ERG group for all employees, no longer designed to focus on race or sexual orientation,” and “ending participation in the [Human Rights Campaign] HRC’s woke Corporate Equality Index social credit system.”

HRC, the country’s largest LGBT activist group, is not pleased with Lowe’s decision to cut ties with them. Orlando Gonzales, HRC’s senior vice president of Programs, Research, and Training, shared with The Advocate that Lowe’s “retreating from these principles undermines both consumer trust and employee success.” He added, “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.”

Some media outlets have gone on to characterize the efforts of concerned Americans as “conservative criticism” and forms of extremism, but as Starbuck said in an exclusive comment to The Washington Stand, this is really a “movement for neutrality and sanity in corporate America.” And it’s now “so large that companies simply can’t ignore us.”

He continued, “For too long we’ve been the silent majority.” But because consumers are now increasingly standing up for themselves and their values, “Companies now understand that we won’t sit back silently anymore as every institution is poisoned by a loud but sof far-left extremists.” Ultimately, “Divisive political and social issues don’t belong in the workplace, and work is not your soapbox to discuss” radical ideologies that many Americans disagree with. “Sanity will rule again, and the customer will be king,” Starbuck contended, “not Blackrock, not the HRC, not StateStreet, and not Vanguard.”

In another comment to TWS, Family Research Council’s Meg Kilgannon explained, “With prices sky high on everything related to housing and construction thanks to higher interest rates and Biden-Harris inflation, Lowe’s and other companies must have more pressing issues” than supporting DEI. Not to mention, “Less corporate spending on DEI might mean lower prices on lumber and lightbulbs for a customer base that is struggling in many parts of the country.”

And as Starbuck concluded, “Companies need customers to walk through their doors to buy products.” As such, it would seem this “movement has done an effective job of reminding them of that. We will continue to do so one by one for as long as this takes to bring sanity back” to America.