Walmart backtracks on DEI and LGBTQ initiatives

Walmart is reversing course on its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives and will reduce its support for the movement in some key areas, the company confirmed Tuesday.

The move comes four months after Walmart announced it was standing pat in regards to its DEI decisions.

“Our purpose, to help people save money and live better, has been at our core since our founding 62 years ago and continues to guide us today,” Walmart said in an emailed statement to Supermarket News. “We can deliver on it because we are willing to change alongside our associates and customers who represent all of America. We’ve been on a journey and know we aren’t perfect, but every decision comes from a place of wanting to foster a sense of belonging, to open doors to opportunities for all our associates, customers and suppliers and to be a Walmart for everyone.”

The Bentonville, Ark.-based company, with 1.5 million employees, is the largest private employer to announce DEI changes. The move means Walmart will no longer fund the Center for Racial Equity, a nonprofit initiative that the retailer has supported with $100 million. The five-year partnership, established after the police killed George Floyd in 2020, will officially end next year, according to The New York Times.

Walmart will also stop sharing data with the Human Rights Campaign, another nonprofit that has monitored businesses;’ LGBTQ policies. The terms DEI and Latinx will also no longer appear in Walmart's official communications, The New York Times reported.

On the apparel side, Walmart will prohibit third-party merchants from selling LGBTQ-themed items targeted at children on Walmart.com. The company will also review its Pride event grants to ensure it is not supporting content unsuitable for kids according to the Times.

The retailer publishes a Belonging, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion report, but has not confirmed it will stop providing such data. 

“Last week I told execs at Walmart that I was doing a story on wokeness there,” Starbuck posted on social media platform X on Monday. “Instead, we had productive conversations to find solutions.”

Walmart and other companies have faced pressure from the anti-DEI movement, which gained momentum after the reelection of President Donald Trump.

Some of these changes, however, have been underway since the Supreme Court's ruling on affirmative action in June 2023. In a 6-3 decision, the Court found that race-conscious admissions policies violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Ford, Harley-Davidson, Lowe’s, and Tractor Supply have also made changes to their DEI initiatives.