11 companies that are scaling back DEI, LGBT advocacy

Lowe’s

As Starbuck documented in an Aug. 26 X post, Home improvement retailer Lowe's is also implementing changes designed to scale back the focus on diversity, equity and inclusion.

An email shared by Starbuck shows the company leadership asserting, "We have hired and will continue to hire and promote people based on merit and results."

"We believe in inclusion, not exclusion," the executive leadership team wrote in the message. "This simply means we ensure that everyone is included and considered fairly based on race, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or any other characteristic[s]. 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."

The retail giant said that it, like many companies, began reviewing its policies following the U.S. Supreme Court's June 2023 ruling that the University of North Carolina's and Harvard University's admissions policies, which use race as a factor in student acceptance, are unconstitutional.

After informing its staff that "none of you was included or excluded based on your characteristics, or anything else," Lowe's leadership highlighted how "we are no longer participating in the Human Rights Campaign survey process."

The company also committed to refocusing its philanthropic efforts on "safe and affordable housing/community improvement, disaster relief and skilled trades education" and telegraphed that it would not "sponsor and participate in community events that are outside of this scope."

Lowe's listed "festivals, parades, and fairs" as examples of such events. The company email came after Starbuck informed Lowe's leadership he planned to expose their "woke" policies.