Companies dropping DEI will face consequences — 80% of LGBTQ+ adults support boycotts: report

In caving to conservatives, companies abandoning diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices stand to lose a robust and growing demographic.

A recent survey of LGBTQ+ adults from the HRC and Community Marketing & Insights, Inc found that over 80 percent would boycott a company that rolled back DEI initiatives,including stopping shopping at, utilizing, and/or purchasing its services.

More than 75.7 percentsaid they would have a less favorable opinion of that company, and over half (52.5 percent) would urge others to boycott the company, including by posting negative company reviews and sharing their concerns on social media

Of the LGBTQ+ adults that work for companies abandoning DEI, one-fifth (19.6 percent) would quit or start lookingfor a new job, almost three-quarters (72.4 percent)wouldfeel less included and accepted at work, and one-third (33.6 percent) feel their productivity would suffer.

Over half a dozen companies have recently announced they will be rolling back DEI and employee support initiatives after receiving threats online from fringe conservative extremist and failed filmmaker Robby Starbuck. Starbuck has used his over half a million followers the platform to target companies and bully them into dropping DEI, notoriously succeeding with John Deere and Tractor Supply earlier this year, and recently with Jack Daniel's, Harley Davidson, Lowe's Home Improvement, and Molson Coors.

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Starbuck also believes, among other things, that chemicals turn children LGBTQ+ and that the COVID-19 vaccine caused beloved Friends actor Matthew Perry's death (neither are true).

LGBTQ+ adults believe that companies can show support for the community by participating in the HRC's Corporate Equality Index and earning a perfect score (93.5 percent), donating money to LGBTQ+ nonprofits (93 percent), and sponsoring Pride events (87.7 percent) — all of which the above companies have recently reversed their support of.

Orlando Gonzales, HRC’s Senior Vice President of Programs, Research, and Training, said in a statement that "this new data confirms that companies like Molson Coors, Ford, and others that abandon their values and backtrack from commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion risk losing both top employee talent and consumer dollars.”

“The LGBTQ+ community is an economic powerhouse, and we want to work for and support companies who support us," Gonzales said. "Attacks on DEI initiatives are shortsighted and make our workplaces less safe and less inclusive for hard-working Americans of all demographics and backgrounds."