Jeff Bezos erases LGBTQ+ rights support and ‘equity for Black people’ from Amazon website
Jeff Bezos at the Economic Club of Washington’s Milestone Celebration event in September 2018 (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty)
Amazon has removed LGBTQ+ rights support from its website, as the White House moves to erase equality initiatives.
On his first day back in office, president Donald Trump ended the use of governmental diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) hiring and federal contracting, and Amazon has become the latest major corporation to scale back its equity programmes.
Statements pledging to commit to “equity for Black people” and “LGBTQ+ rights” and any mention of “transgender” were removed from Amazon’s website in December, The Washington Post reported.
Amazon’s website previously stated the company stood “in solidarity” with Black employees and customers and supported “legislation to combat misconduct and racial bias in policing, efforts to protect and expand voting rights, and initiatives that provide better health and educational outcomes for Black people.”
Insurance coverage is still offered to trans employees
The company’s statements of support for federal and state-level laws, guaranteeing legal protections for trans people, and stating the in-house benefits for transgender employees, have also been removed.
However, an Amazon spokesperson insisted that the firm still offered insurance coverage to trans members of staff.
The company’s “diversity, equity and inclusion” section has been updated to say that “inequitable treatment of anyone, including Black people, LGBTQ+ people, Asians, women and others, is unacceptable”, they added.
Trump’s stance and right-wing campaigns have resulted in major companies, including Meta and Amazon, rolling back equality initiatives.
Walmart, Ford, Lowe’s, Harley-Davidson and Jack Daniel’s had already scrapped their DEI programmes in the face of a campaign led by right-wing pundit Robby Starbuck. McDonald’s recently announced that they were following suit.
However, Apple’s board of directors have refused to bow to pressure and has asked shareholders to vote against a proposal to end DEI initiatives.
In 2023, Amazon’s global head of LGBTQIA+ affairs spoke to PinkNews about identity, authenticity and pioneering LGBTQ+ policies in New York.
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