Starbucks Accused Of Banning And Removing Pride Decorations

On June 13, 2023, Starbucks Workers United — an employee-led collective that organizes the unionization of Starbucks stores — released a statement on Twitter accusing Starbucks of banning Pride decorations in its stores in numerous locations. The statement included multiple links to videos that appeared to document the accused behavior, and text messages from a manager in the Mid-Atlantic region that ordered stores to stop putting up Pride decorations to "[lean] toward uniformity in store to create [a] consistent experience in stores."

Along with these links to videos and text messages, the statement also included quotes from multiple Starbucks workers across different states describing a similar experience. One worker, Neha Cremin, claimed that their store in Oklahoma City was told to take down pride decorations by upper management because they "wanted every Starbucks to have an identical, homogeneous look." One viral TikTok video appears to have a store manager taking down pride decorations at a Starbucks store.

In a statement sent to Static Media, Starbucks denied any accusations that it has instructed stores to take down Pride decorations. Starbucks stated: "We unwaveringly support the LGBTQIA2+ community. There has been no change to any policy on this matter and we continue to encourage our store leaders to celebrate with their communities including for U.S. Pride Month in June."

The company also pointed out other ways in which it shows support for the LGBTQIA2+ Community, such as covering gender-affirming care in its health insurance policy and giving the same insurance benefits to same-sex partnerships as it did for heterosexual couples starting in 1988, far before the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage on the federal level in 2015. Starbucks further explained that it has historically advocated for equal rights for the LGBTQIA2+ community and accused Starbucks Workers United of spreading false information about company policy.

Many LGBTQIA2+ Starbucks workers express their concerns about how the company will treat them in the future regarding these accusations. In the press statement from Starbucks Workers' United, Shenby G., a Starbucks employee, included a quote that read "When corporate ordered our pride flag to be ripped down this year, Starbucks showed its true colors. Partners felt unsafe, they felt attacked, and they felt like the company was taking a page out of the right-wing reactionary's playbook."

On Starbucks Workers United's TikTok, the organization speculated that Starbucks stores are taking down decorations out of fear that there will be backlash from the far-right, similar to what happened to Bud Light after its partnership with Dylan Mulvaney, a trans-woman actress, and comedian. As a result, Bud Light's parent company Anheuser-Busch had a 20% drop in its stock after the far-right boycotted the product. Target faced a similar backlash after the far-right boycotted the company after the retailer included LGBTQIA2+ inclusive clothing for kids during Pride month, resulting in a 14% stock drop for the company.

Despite these allegations, Starbucks has released multiple new cups and tumblers that pay homage to Pride, and the company also stated to Food Republic that it is "not aware of any company-operated store that has 'banned' decorations related to U.S. Pride month."