A new report indicates that Toyota is the latest company to seemingly backtrack on its support of LGBTQ+ causes, Pride Month, and overall DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives in an attempt to soothe its conservative customers.
In the last few years, some of the largest brands in the world have started to "cave in" to so-called "anti-woke" backlash and rhetoric coming from conservative groups. From beer cans being shot and thrown out, to Pride Month merch featuring drag queens being removed from retail stores, the LGBTQ+ community is now seeing solid evidence of what many of us have suspected all along: that, for many companies, the rainbow rebranding, queer- and trans-inclusive opportunities, and limited displays of allyship are mostly just hollow marketing tactics that can be swiftly squashed at any given time.
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Yes, a new internal memo obtained by Bloomberg shows that the Toyota Motor Corporation is reportedly set to "halt sponsorship of LGBTQ+ events" and will also "end [its] participation in notable rankings by LGBTQ+ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign and other corporate culture surveys."
For context, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) gave Toyota a perfect 100 score in the organization's 2023 Corporate Equality Index Criteria ratings. Per the messaging in this memo, however, it seems like Toyota will no longer participate in these surveys or collaborate with the HRC.
According to the Bloomberg report, Toyota's internal memo — which was sent on Thursday, October 3, to 50,000 employees based in the U.S. — also explains that the company will now "narrow [its] community activities to align with STEM education and workforce readiness."
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While this new internal memo may come as a surprise to some people, this isn't the first time that Toyota has been called out for its lack of support for the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2022, The 19th News reported a list titled "These Pride sponsors have donated the most to politicians pushing anti-LGBTQ+ bills" in which Toyota was ranked as no. 1. According to the reported data, Toyota donated $601,500 during the 2020 and 2022 election cycles to anti-LGBTQ+ bills in states like Alabama, Arizona, Florida, and Idaho.
The 19th also highlighted at the time that "Toyota, a Pride sponsor for Los Angeles this year, contributed $150,000 to [Greg] Abbott's reelection efforts in December." Abbott was, indeed, reelected as the Governor of Texas, beating Beto O'Rourke in the election.
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Yes, that is correct. The same memo obtained by Bloomberg cites diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs along the same lines as LGBTQ+ events — even though DEI programs encompass a much larger group of people, and "programs" aren't the same thing as "events." Therefore, the company is also "refocusing" its strategy and will now sponsor STEM programs while it scales back on funding DEI initiatives.
Robby Starbuck
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Robby Starbuck is a high-profile conservative activist who lives in Williamson County, Tennessee and ran as a write-in candidate during the 2022 U.S. House of Representatives elections. While he did not win that election, Starbuck continued to push his agenda and has become one of the most prominent figures within the conservative movement to campaign against companies that they believe are abiding by "DEI practices."
Bloomberg notes that Toyota reportedly announced that it would stop sponsoring LGBTQ+ events "a week after anti-DEI activist Robby Starbuck started a social media campaign against the company, calling for customer boycotts because of its support for LGBTQ+ events and other initiatives."
Toyota first attempted to deflect Starbuck's anti-DEI campaign against the company, as reported by Bloomberg on September 26. Specifically, Toyota noted that "the LGBTQ+ programs in question were led by employee groups, not the company directly." However, it only took a week for Toyota to issue an actual internal memo announcing that it was shutting down those initiatives altogether.
On Thursday, October 3, a spokesperson for Toyota told Bloomberg that "Starbuck’s public attack drew a few hundred queries from employees, questions from a 'small population' of dealers, and about 30 customer calls to its call center," noting that the impact of Starbuck's campaign as "negligible." In other words, the spokesperson seemingly rejected the theory that Starbuck's campaign had a significant impact on the decision that Toyota outlined in this new internal memo.
Robby Starbuck
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Bloomberg's Jeff Green lists three other companies that may have been affected by Robby Starbuck's efforts in the past. The publication outlines the following:
Starbuck started an anti-DEI campaign against Tractor Supply on June 6. By June 27, the company "eliminated DEI roles, dropped out of HRC ranking, and shifted funds away from DEI groups."
Deere & Co. started to be targeted by Starbuck on July 9. By July 16, the company "dropped participation in 'social or cultural awareness' events and parades, withdrew funds from DEI causes, reoriented employee groups."
Harley-Davidson was also targeted by an anti-DEI campaign from Starbuck that started on July 23. And by August 19, Harley-Davidson "confirmed [the] end of DEI roles in [the] company, pulled out of HRC ranking, eliminated socially-motivated training, and cut minority supplier program goals."
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