HR professionals reflect on Pride Month amid DE&I backlash

Companies are seeing more criticism of their DE&I work from right-wing groups, while executive support for DE&I also waning. Mentions of environmental and social initiatives on earnings calls—including the term “DE&I”—have fallen considerably over the past year, a June 12 analysis by the Wall Street Journal found.

Here’s what some HR and DE&I pros have said.

An about-face. “I’m feeling really perplexed. How did we go from, in 2020, major companies and organizations [overwhelmingly] embracing DE&I to 2023, the year that DE&I professionals are being let go and DE&I being ferociously attacked?”—Margaret D. Finley, head of DE&I and corporate affairs at Advanced Drainage Systems, responding to Chick-fil-A right-wing backlash on LinkedIn

Good intentions can fall short. “It goes to show that even if for years you’ve [checked] the right boxes, you can still make decisions that can do massive harm to marginalized communities. The LGBTQ+ community is feeling silenced and now more than ever the community needs visibility and action!”—Noelle Johnson, assistant director of DE&I, learning, and development at Crow, on Target’s decision to remove Pride merchandise, on LinkedIn

Effective DE&I starts with internal programs. “We know that many companies want to be allies and stand by the LGBTQ+ community, and have engaged in external campaigns, but often this is done without having done the vital internal training and inclusion work first.”—Adrien Gaubert, co-founder of LGBTQ+ networking platform, myGwork, told HR Magazine

DE&I-related risks. “This is a perfect example of the way organizations expose themselves to DEI-related business risks by not understanding DEI and in this case specifically, core learning and development principles around DEI Training...DEI Training needs to be designed with the audience in mind,” Behzadi wrote. “Instead of pretending that people are ready for community level activism work when the organization does the BARE MINIMUM for DEI is really only causing harm to the communities who need our very support.”—Christen Flack Behzadi, founder of International Intercultural, argued on LinkedIn that Bud Light overlooked key DE&I principles in rolling out a marketing campaign that sparked a boycott

The work shouldn’t stop. “Despite the pushback, companies should maintain their commitment to diversity and inclusivity and defend their freedom to market and sell products that appeal to LGBTQ+ communities. That means hiring more security to protect team members and releasing public statements affirming their commitment to LGBTQ+ customers and staff.”—Josie Caballero, director of the 2022 US Transgender Survey and Special Projects at the National Center for Transgender Equality, wrote in Forbes