Harley-Davidson’s LGBTQ+ boot camp is the antithesis of what its brand means to its biker customers, charges conservative online influencer Robby Starbuck.
“I don’t think the values at corporate reflect the values of nearly any Harley-Davidson bikers,” Starbuck says, according to the New York Post.
Starbuck is urging Harley customers to boycott the storied motorcycle maker over its “totally woke” policies,
The 120-year-old Milwaukee, Wis., company spells out its environmental, social and governance (ESG) and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in its “inclusive stakeholder report,” with CEO Jochen Zeitz touting his goal to “deepen understandings of others’ lifestyle, diagnosis, disability, social status, or ethnic origin.”
Starbuck, who has more than half a million followers on X, is calling out Harley-Davidson for subjecting white employees to DEI indoctrination, hosting an LGBTQ+ boot camp at its offices, and sponsoring Pride events.
Starbuck, a former GOP candidate for a congressional seat in Tennessee, is none other than the man behind the online campaign that forced John Deere and Tractor Supply to walk back its DEI initiatives.
John Deere ditched its DEI policies earlier this month after it faced conservative backlash and a farmer-led boycott.
The $61 billion-a-year company announced it would abandon “socially motivated messaging, diversity quotas, and pronoun identification” while also distancing itself from “cultural awareness parades.”
Starbuck calls Harley-Davidson a “platinum-founding member” of the LGBT Chamber of Commerce in Wisconsin, which has opposed banning sex changes for children.
On X, Starbuck posted a 10-minute video including a Harley-Davidson commercial in which it proclaims it is “all-in on diversity and inclusion.”
One LGBTQ event at the motorcycle maker’s headquarters, Starbuck charges, had a “rage room” adjacent to a “story-time room for children to interact with drag queens.”
Harley-Davidson’s legal department was required to take “a woke 21-day racial equity and literacy challenge” featuring controversial works such as the “1619 Project” and the book “Black Panthers and White Lies,” according to Starbuck.
CEO Zeitz is also a big proponent of green initiatives and has set a goal to make all Harley-Davidson vehicles electric by 2030.
Starbuck counters: “Do Harley riders want the money they spend at Harley to be used by corporate to push an ideology that’s diametrically opposed to their own values?”
Harley-Davidson had not responded to requests for comment by the New York Post.