Telecom giant T-Mobile is the latest company to face a backlash over its diversity efforts, including by backing a summit about mentoring gay and transgender kids.
Consumers’ Research, a conservative watchdog, called the cellphone operator ‘brazenly woke’ over its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) work and urged management to reverse course.
The group highlights T-Mobile’s support for the recent ‘Time to Thrive’ summit in Minneapolis, which had a particular emphasis on mentoring and sex education for LGBTQ+ children.
It’s the latest firm to face a so-called ‘wokelash’ from conservative consumers that’s in recent weeks seen Harley-Davidson, Jack Daniel’s and other top brands to scrap their DEI programs.
‘T-Mobile is brazenly woke and touts its funding of LGBTQ kids programming and DEI practices,’ says the watchdog.
T-Mobile sponsored the recent ‘Time to Thrive’ summit in Minneapolis, which focussed on gay and transgender children
The $207 billion telecoms giant, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, has an aggressive diversity-hiring scheme
‘Tell them to stop funding LGBTQ programs targeting youth and stop pushing racist DEI practices.’
T-Mobile, a $207 billion telecoms giant headquartered in Bellevue, Washington, did not answer our request for comment.
It is linked to the global brand of Germany’s Deutsche Telekom.
In announcing the boycott, Consumers’ Research said T-Mobile had sponsored the LGBTQ+ meeting of the Human Rights Campaign in Minnesota on May 18.
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Its agenda covered ‘affirming sex education for LGBTQ+ youth,’ ‘inclusive restrooms,’ and ‘creating LGBTQ+ inclusive youth mentoring spaces.’
The talks were kicked off with a welcome address from T-Mobile’s public affairs chief Tim O’Regan.
Though uncontroversial for many Americans, promoting gay and trans lifestyles to children is worrisome for many traditional and conservative parents, who say it’s unnecessary and may amount to indoctrination.
The organizers of the summit seek to ‘normalize gender ideology in kids,’ says Consumers’ Research.
The watchdog says the summit is just part of T-Mobile’s border DEI efforts over the past four years.
The cellphone operator says it has been working hard to build a more ‘diverse’ workforce.
More than four-in-ten employees is female nowadays, and more than six-in-ten are from an ‘underrepresented racial or ethnic group,’ says T-Mobile’s website.
The watchdog urges T-Mobile users to put pressure on the company and CEO Mike Sievert to ‘stop funding LGBTQ programs targeting youth and stop pushing racist DEI practices.’
T-Mobile users have already responded angrily to the revelations, with the British conservative activist Raheem Kassam saying it was time to ‘find a new provider.’
Others criticized CEO Sievert and said they believed the network was blocking articles from conservative websites.
T-Mobile’s public affairs chief Tim O’Regan kicked off the sex mentoring program for Midwestern youngsters
T-Mobile has in the past promoted Roxy Wood and other drag queens in online videos
The summit featured sessions on ‘affirming sex education for LGBTQ+ youth,’ ‘inclusive restrooms,’ and ‘creating LGBTQ+ inclusive youth mentoring spaces.’
T-Mobile trumpets its diversity efforts in marketing messages, even though this may put off some customers
‘I will be changing our family plan,’ one user posted on X.
‘We have to cancel,’ wrote another.
The criticism marked the latest in a series of conservative-led boycotts against well-known brands over progressive policies, which have hit Bud Light, Target, Cracker Barrel, Tractor Supply, The North Face, and many others.
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Many companies that embraced DEI policies in the wake of the cop killing of unarmed black man George Floyd in May 2020 have stepped back from them for fear of irking conservative customers.
For some, DEI schemes are important and necessary, as they can help to overcome historical racism and sexism and make it easier for people of all backgrounds to get ahead in education and work.
Critics say it’s a form of reverse discrimination that unfairly blows back on straight, white men.
Others say DEI schemes may be well-intentioned, but seldom achieve their desired goals and often make things worse by stirring up divisions in offices and classrooms.
An Ipsos poll in April found that 61 percent of voters called DEI a ‘good thing.’
Still, a Gallup survey from around the same time found that only 38 percent of people wanted businesses to be taking a stance on current events — a drop of 10 percentage points from 2022.