It is starting...at WalMart

[quote]WalMart was testing its new line of crematoriums when it baked an employee to death a few weeks ago.

No words.

That was in Nova Scotia, so that doesn’t count.

Ugh, how fucking stupid. Like this was even worth being news. . . .

R3

“And it would stop participating in the Human Rights Campaign’s annual benchmark index that measures workplace inclusion for LGBTQ+ employees.”

That’s news.

Why were they ever involved in DEI? They are supposed to be selling product.

And yet they’ve pulled away from Target for quality, variety, online shopping and click and collect.

I was listening to a podcast recently, can’t remember where, and they were saying that a lot of companies might stop participating in the HRC index. Basically this person was claiming it was unfair. (And this was not a right wing podcast; I think it was an NPR show, though I truly can’t remember).

I'm in favor of jettisoning the DEI initiatives.

[quote] I'm in favor of jettisoning the DEI initiatives.

I'm not sure most decent people understand what it will actually mean. Walmart withdrawing support from initiatives intended to make Walmart hospitable and supportive of its LGBTQ employees and customers should be unsettling to every gay man. Even those who mistakenly believe that DEI only benefits people of color.

Most "decent" people don't shop at walmart because of the atrocious way they treat their employees.

[quote] Most "decent" people don't shop at walmart because of the atrocious way they treat their employees.

Elitist nonsense. Outside of urban centers, Walmart is the biggest and perhaps only major retailer. It is also a huge employer, I think one of the biggest in America. This is an extremely significant and disheartening step backwards.

After the Walmart win, the conservative anti-DEI activist has some new "Targets":

[quote] Robby Starbuck, the conservative activist who pushed the retail giant (Walmart) into its U-turn, said in a video that “we have our eyes on Amazon and Target” because they are “acting crazy out there with wokeness”.

Good on rolling back DEI.

How are there posters on here cheering on a major corporation joining in with the "gay people are grooming kids" bullshit?

No one is cheering on that, r14. No one in this thread has said that.

r15 That's exactly what you're cheering on when you say "Good on rolling back DEI.".

[quote]The Bentonville, Arkansas-based retailer will also be reviewing grants to Pride events to make sure it is not financially supporting sexualized content that may be unsuitable for kids. For example, the company wants to makes sure a family pavilion is not next to a drag show at a Pride event, the company said.

That's what you just cheered on. You made a blanket statement, you don't then get to pick and choose.

I know what I am talking about with DEI, r16. That is not what anyone Iin this thread means by DEI. I do get to pick and choose as I have a brain. Have a good day.

r17 And yet you decided not to even mention the homophobia in your zeal to praise Walmart.

I said what I said about DEI, nothing else, r18. As did others in this thread. I'm not engaging with you further as at this point you're just trying to get into an argument. Good day.

[quote]I said what I said about DEI, nothing else

Yeah, which was exactly my point. A major corporation just said something incredibly homophobic, and yet you had no comment to make on that at all, instead choosing to cheer them on. And the homophobia is a part of them rolling back DEI. So yeah, you said exactly what I said.

Haha!

Dipshits here think DEI only means "brown people" when it VERY MUCH also means gay people

Conservatives want us pushed back in the closet you morons. We're their target just like we were before - just because they were quiet about it for a while don't mean they stopped thinking of us as sub-human perverts.

You want DEI gone? Hope you like the closet because apparently your bigotry towards brown people is more powerful than your self respect.

I’m fine with it as long as they stop targeting kids with the chest binders and such.

And frankly, you can blame trans overreach for a big part of this.

Drop the T.

Drop the T all you want, R22

That won't stop them from coming after us gays. We were always their target.

The trans was just their toe in the water to come after us - and people like you are helping them

Why don't you just go back in the closet now and be gay secretly since that's what's you're gunning for

Sorry, I don't identify as a target.

R22 / R24 is the gay with the sign (and t-shirt) in this cartoon

looks like that guy in the hat in R25 wants to say the N word.

R11, and now you realize why all of us “elites” try to never live in rural areas. Sorry, it’s a self-defeating prospect at this point in history

R24, you can identify as Santa Claus if you want, but the GOP detests gay people of any stripe

[quote] I know what I am talking about with DEI, [R16]. That is not what anyone Iin this thread means by DEI. I do get to pick and choose as I have a brain. Have a good day.

R13, what do you think it means when a major retailer "rollbacks" DEI?

People who say that they are coming after us because they are targeting transgenders are clearly transgenders themselves in this site. Way before the transgenders stated to make noise, they were already selling pride items in these stores, it wasn’t until they began with the transgenders merchandise, many of them targeting children that these backlash took place.

bullshit

[quote]they were already selling pride items in these stores, it wasn’t until they began with the transgenders merchandise

Exactly R30 we thought we'd won the fight

But then Conservatives found they could go after trans people with the EXACT SAME BIGOTED RHETORIC THEY USED AGAINST US GAYS and get traction (they're perverts, unsafe, mentally ill, unnatural, they're going after children, etc etc... any gay over 45 has seen all this stuff before aimed at us)

They knew they had to be careful about bashing gays nowadays but found they could get around that by going after trans people (and drag queens) as a toe-in-the-water to begin again going after us

They know trans are a very very small minority compared to gays - so they revamped their strategy to go after trans to get leverage to then resume going after us. They didn't even care about trans people, they just focus-grouped a bunch of issues and the trans is the one that stuck - all in the bigger agenda of going after gays

Here's an article: [bold]How a Campaign Against Transgender Rights Mobilized Conservatives Defeated on same-sex marriage, the religious right went searching for an issue that would re-energize supporters and donors. The campaign that followed has stunned political leaders across the spectrum[/bold]

If you're unaware that the exact bigoted tactics being slung against Trans people was ALSO previously used against us gays, here's a Datalounge thread for you with articles and headlines

[quote]Keep Gays Away From Kids and Locker Rooms -- Someone posted a twitter thread of news articles/opinions from years past where people use the SAME "concerns" and pretty much the same bigoted wording AGAINST GAYS as people are using against trans (and gays) today -- I'll post individual links from the thread inside

[quote] [R11], and now you realize why all of us “elites” try to never live in rural areas. Sorry, it’s a self-defeating prospect at this point in history

Gays shouldn't have to 'escape' their families and communities just to be free of bigotry. The reality is the bigotry follows them and continues to fester in the communities they abandon. One measure of equality for gays would be freedom from persecution in the corner of the world where you originate. Fleeing home for gay-friendly urban ghettos should be a thing of the past. Many of us don't have the desire or resources to be "elites." We are regular working people who should be accorded the dignity of living, loving and working in smalltown red state nowhere free from bigotry.

How did the world ever manage to exist before DEI became a thing?

[quote] How did the world ever manage to exist before DEI became a thing?

Very cruelly, harshly and unequally. Things started to change for the better when Pharaoh's army drowned the Red Sea.

Truth be told, there is no tangible financial ROI on DEI retail marketing. Target was subjected to a " woke" boycott due to to product marketing. Did deeper into these companies, they all have sexual orientation/gender identity statements on their websites

The T Community is their own worst enemy. Unfortunately Gay Men and Lesbians have to pay the price too.

This is going to happen.

I feel that many who voted for Trump, were overwhelmed by all the political correctness. We will see more curtail. However, I think the brunt of the assertiveness will go toward the outskirts of the community e.g. trans people.

The 4 years are going to be what they will....so, make the best of your small part of the world and contribute, as you can, for the larger part.

[quote]First they cane for Trans and I said nothing because I was not Trans. When they came for PRIDE there was no one left to speak for me

So this does not apply. Lets be honest, HRC has been taking over by Trans at this point. The LG part of the LGBTQ has basically sent to the back of the bus anyways. Every spokesman or award is trans, trans, trans from the HRC.

R33 that post is from 1977!

WEAK argument if you are trying to say they are coming after gays next. A lot has changed since then, gays were not even a common word talked about openly back then. Most people in the US were not even born. The ones that were are in retirement or circling the drain.

Elites? Bullshit. Not having to shop at Walmart doesn't make you an elite -just a concerned citizen who cares about other people. It looks like the rightwing bigots have found a successful wedge issue to break apart our community. I am not trans, and I don't have any trans friends or family. But I know that if they are allowed to eliminate trans rights, they won't stop there. They'll come after other groups as well. If we're not next on their agenda, we are still on it somewhere...

Walmart is an evil corporation that destroys small and local businesses and treats its employees like shit. I'm proud to say I've never set foot in one -and never will.

Why does every fucking thing have to be kid friendly?

Or "family" friendly??

What about the CHILDREN!!!!

Honestly, I would prefer these big corporations separate themselves for gay pride, it's been too commercial for too long. Gay Pride yes I said GAY pride used to be a lot more fun when it was just run by gays and lesbians with all volunteer participation. The original reason we allowed companies to join in was to gain social acceptance from big companies recognizing we are part of their market. But over the years it's evolved into a corporate cash grab disguised as a show of rainbow flags.

[quote]WalMart was testing its new line of crematoriums when it baked an employee to death a few weeks ago.

I still can't get past this bit.