Toyota joined the growing list of companies that are dialing back their LGBTQ sponsorships and diversity, equity, and inclusion commitments following exposés from conservative activist Robby Starbuck.
The Japan-based car manufacturer told its 50,000 U.S. employees and 1,500 dealers on Thursday that it would “narrow our community activities to align with STEM education and workforce readiness,” Bloomberg reported. Starbuck revealed last week that Toyota was sponsoring pro-LGBTQ events, including a children’s LGBTQ summer camp.
A company spokesman told Bloomberg that following Starbuck’s exposé, the company received a few hundred queries from employees, questions from a “small population” of dealers, and around 30 calls from customers. The spokesman claimed that Starbuck’s revelations about Toyota were “negligible.”
“Huge news: Last week we exposed @Toyota + @Lexus for going woke and now just one week later they’re announcing BIG changes!” Starbuck wrote on X. “Some highlights: No more involvement in pride parades, pride events or LGBTQ children’s summer camps. They will not participate in the @HRC’s [Human Rights Campaign] woke Corporate Equality Index social credit system. All BRG activities must be focused on the core business of Toyota and be open to all.”
“I have to give the executives credit for taking this unifying action. It’s not easy to do but they’re preparing their business for future success by adopting corporate neutrality,” he added. “The companies who adopt neutrality will win the future because they don’t violate the core beliefs of the consumers they rely on.”
Following Starbuck’s posts on social media about Toyota, the company said that the LGBTQ programs mentioned by Starbuck were led by employee groups, not the company itself.
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“We will work to ensure that the activities and events are focused on professional development, networking, mentoring and volunteering—team member engagement that drives our business. Furthermore, we will work to ensure all company activities are aligned with our values and create an inclusive environment for our team members,” Toyota’s memo to employees stated, according to Fox Business.
Toyota joins Ford, Harley-Davidson, Lowe’s, and Tractor Supply as another company that has responded to Starbuck’s revelations by walking back DEI commitments.
“Our campaigns are so effective that we’re getting some of the biggest corporations on earth to change their policies. The landscape of corporate America is quickly shifting to sanity and neutrality. We are the trend now, not the anomaly,” Starbuck wrote. “We’re winning and one by one we WILL bring sanity back to corporate America.”