Starbucks celebrates Pride and embraces all LGBTQIA2+ identities
Join the partners (employees) of the Starbucks Pride Network in celebrating Pride Month through positive actions and allyship as we recognize and uplift everyone in the LGBTQIA2+ community.
Join the Starbucks Pride Network in celebrating Pride Month all through June with positive actions and allyship – as we recognize, uplift and learn more about all the identities within the LGBTQIA2+ community. Partner networks like the Starbucks Pride Network create connections over shared experiences and values, encourage professional growth, raise awareness of important issues and serve as a bridge between our stores and the communities we serve.
Give and Advocate
Starbucks Pride Network partners are champions in their communities across the nation. Join us as we uplift causes and organizations important to our partners.
The National Center for Transgender Equality advocates for policies that increase understanding and acceptance of transgender people.
Donate to the NCTE and learn more about how the organization is working to transform disrespect, discrimination and violence into empathy, opportunity and justice.
Starbucks partners support many local organizations, including:
- InterACT, which advocates for intersex youth
- The Lavender Rights Project, which elevates Black gender-diverse communities
Learn With Us
Starbucks has partnered with Arizona State University to build the “To Be Welcoming” curriculum, a free 15-course learning resource, available to all, designed to address bias and deepen human connections. In this interactive lesson, you’ll learn about key terms and concepts related to sexual identity formation. The curriculum features courses on gender bias and sexuality bias.
We honor all the different ways our partners identify. We believe it makes us stronger. Here, read more about the origins of the Two Spirit identity, its significance within the Indigenous community and how it shows up today.
Join the Celebration
Recommended listening from our partners during Pride Month:
Partner Spotlight
This Pride Month, Suzie and Kevin, two Starbucks partners and longtime Pride Network members, helped bring the “Love Onward” T-shirt to life. The T-shirt will be available to partners all year long, with the theme representing the idea of accepting all people as they are.
“I was inspired by both the LGBTQIA2+ community and our brand’s deep love for coffee. I wanted the shirt to look like something only Starbucks could do, so it needed to be rooted in coffee and joy,” says Suzie (she/her), an associate creative director. “Also, I came out during my time as a partner at Starbucks and when doing so, I felt such a sense of belonging and support from partners professionally. I recognize I am not alone in this kind of experience with Starbucks as a partner in the Pride Network — we lift each other up as partners and support one another. This really encompasses the inspiration of the lines of copy and the design.”
“What I hope most is that this shirt makes our LGBTQIA2+ partners full of happiness, joy and pride,” Suzie says. “Every sketch, every refinement on this shirt was done with them in mind. I just wanted to make this community proud and happy.”
Kevin (he/him), a creative project manager who’s been with Starbucks for 25 years, adds, “It’s a tough time in the culture for the LGBTQIA2+ community and it feels like we’re under attack — especially the trans and non-binary community. I hope that all the work we created for this campaign brings a little bit of joy to everyone and lets them know we’re happy they’re a part of our great, big, inclusive community – literally, ‘we’re so glad you’re here.’”
“To me, Pride means sharing my entire, authentic, flamboyant self wherever I go and with whomever I meet,” Kevin says. “I strive to do this all year round and not just the month of June. I grew up in a very conservative family and was always told I should change to ‘fit in.’ Starbucks has never asked me to be anything other than me and it’s a huge reason I’ve been here as long as I have.”
Illustrations by Jasmin Nguyen
