Toyota Motor Corp Joins a List of Companies No Longer Participating in DEI and LGBTQ Policies
Toyota is curbing support of LGBTQ events and DEI hiring after fielding complaints from customers. In a memo sent out to the company’s 1500 US dealerships and 50,000 employees, Toyota has announced that it will no longer sponsor LGBTQ events and is ceasing any hiring policies that were built around “diversity, equity, and inclusion,” or DEI.
Instead, the Japanese auto manufacturer plans to implement “STEM education and workforce readiness.” STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math education) is focused on hands-on, problem-based learning. It is meant to teach critical thinking and innovation, and lead to hiring policies that are based on skill and ability rather than race, sexual orientation, or membership in a minority group.
Toyota’s announcement comes after similar news from several other companies, inclouding Harley Davidson, Tractor Supply, Ford, and Lowe’s. After receiving a score of 100 from the HRC (Human Rights Campaign) in 2023 for their Corporate Equality Index Criteria rating, the company has decided to cease collaborating with the HRC.
Conservative influencer Robby Starbuck shared the news on X, stating that Toyota would have:
• No more involvement in pride parades, pride events or LGBTQ children’s summer camps.
• They will not participate in the @HRC’s woke Corporate Equality Index social credit system.
• All BRG activities must be focused on the core business of Toyota and be open to all.
Starbuck, who has been a huge advocate against what he calls, “woke policies,” thanked his followers by saying, “So far you’ve helped us change corporate policy at Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley Davidson, Polaris, Indian Motorcycle, Lowe’s, Ford, Coor, Caterpillar, Stanley Black & Decker and now Toyota + Lexus. We are a force to be reckoned with and we won’t stop until wokeness is extinct.”
Starbuck had recently launched a social media campaign asking for a boycott against Toyota because of the company’s support of DEI and LGBTQ policies. A spokesperson for Toyota admitted that this led to “a few hundred” employee queries, questions from some of its dealers, and around 30 calls from customers. The HRC is, in turn, asking its followers to boycott companies which refuse to support these causes.