TheQuartering [6/13/2023]
As companies find themselves at the center of LGBTQ culture wars during Pride month, a Starbucks workers’ union tweeted allegations that the historically LGBTQ-friendly company banned Pride decorations in stores, sparking outrage (and self-congratulatory reactions from the far right)—but also a firm denial from the company.
Some employees have anonymously taken to social media to share experiences of Starbucks instructing their stores to remove Pride decorations. The Oklahoma City Starbucks Workers United tweeted Oklahoma City union stores were instructed to remove Pride flags from their stores. Starbucks Workers United posted a TikTok video allegedly depicting employees removing Pride decorations from a Wisconsin location. The union also tweeted a collage of posts and comments allegedly made by Starbucks employees who were instructed not to decorate for Pride.
Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) accused Starbucks of alienating its customers who support equality. “Between this and your union-busting, good luck with your customer base. You don’t deserve us,” Pocan tweeted. Some users, including Starbucks Workers United, criticized the company for allegedly removing Pride decorations despite being “powered by many queer workers.”
Conservative commentator Charlie Kirk appeared to credit the right-wing backlash against companies who celebrate Pride month in a tweet to his 2.3 million followers. “Good! Keep the pressure on, folks,” Kirk tweeted. Popular conservative Twitter account End Wokeness, which tweets frequently about “woke” companies to its 1.2 million followers, also credited the conservative backlash: “This is what happens when you actually start fighting the culture war.” Social commentary YouTube channel The Quartering, which has 1.5 million subscribers, considered Starbucks the “wokest of the woke” in a YouTube video on Tuesday and credited its alleged pulling of Pride merch to people having had “enough of rainbow capitalism.”
