Molson Coors will no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index and will abandon its supplier-diversity goals.
Molson Coors is the latest American company to walk away from its diversity initiatives, joining a growing list of iconic American companies that are thinking twice about their adoption of progressive race and gender politics.
Molson Coors told its employees in a Tuesday email, obtained by National Review, that it will no longer participate in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, a social-credit system that grades how well companies adhere to LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace. Molson Coors had a perfect score of 100 last year, according to the index’s criteria, meaning it has enforced workplace protections for sexual orientation and gender identity.
The beer maker will also end its supplier-diversity goals, which involves buying supplies from companies owned by racial minorities or women, and open its business resource groups to any employee who wants to join.
The email suggests that the human-resources team at Molson Coors has been working since March to move away from diversity, equity, and inclusion and embrace all employees regardless of race or sex.
“The driving force behind this shift was the understanding that when all our people know they are welcome, they are more engaged, motivated and committed to our company’s collective success,” the email reads. “Since then, we have reviewed all our policies and practices to ensure our work is aligned with this renewed focus.”
The Molson Coors development comes days after Ford and Lowe’s announced they would take similar steps. The parent company of Jack Daniel’s, Harley-Davidson, and John Deere have also abandoned their DEI initiatives in recent weeks.
Lowe’s cited the recent Supreme Court decision striking down affirmative action in college admissions in explaining its decision to abandon diversity quotas in hiring. While the decision did not directly address the constitutionality of corporate diversity quotas, conservative legal activists believe the same arguments used in the affirmative-action case can be brought to bear to disrupt racial discrimination in hiring.
These changes were made, in part, due to the efforts of conservative activist and filmmaker Robby Starbuck, who’s made it his mission to expose corporate America’s adoption of progressive dogma. He took credit for the shift at Molson Coors on Tuesday, saying he contacted executives at Coors Light and Molson Coors last week.
Starbuck shared the internal email in a video on Tuesday, noting that there will be no more DEI-based training programs, no more charitable donations to divisive events, and no more DEI hiring goals dictating compensation for executives and employees at Molson Coors. Instead, the company will prioritize the well-being of all employees and contribute to charities geared toward certain areas such as alcohol responsibility and disaster-relief efforts.
Corporate America’s adherence to DEI came to the forefront last year when conservatives began boycotting Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light in response to the beer brand’s social-media partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, a biological male who identifies as female. The boycott significantly impacted Bud Light’s image and sales, prompting company leaders to win back conservatives through targeted sponsorships and advertisement campaigns with celebrities.