Q Toon: Board to Ride

As I mentioned last week, Harley-Davidson Motor Company has disassociated itself from the Human Rights Campaign and scrapped its employee diversity program.

“We are saddened by the negativity on social media over the last few weeks, designed to divide the Harley-Davidson community,” the company wrote in a statement posted on X.

The company added that “we have not operated a DEI function since April 2024, and we do not have a DEI function today. We do not have hiring quotas and we no longer have supplier diversity spend goals.”

But the company said it would review all sponsorships and outside organizations the company affiliates with, and the company will establish a central clearinghouse for approvals of those relationships. It also suggested it would drop some sponsorships, including LGBTQ+ Pride festivals, saying the brand going forward would focus exclusively on growing the sport of motorcycling. Harley-Davidson, based in Milwaukee, had previously been a longtime corporate member of the Wisconsin LBGT Chamber of Commerce.

It almost seems unfair to single out Harley-Davidson, since it was following the lead of Tractor Supply Co. and John Deere. And now the makers of Jack Daniels and Lowe's have joined the rush to knuckle under to the forces of Conformity, Inequity, and Exclusion. The announcement at Lowe's added that the home goods retailer would cease sponsorship of LGBTQ parades and festivals.

The unofficial leader of the corporate pressure campaign is Robby Starbuck, a video streamer and right-wing online activist. Monday, Starbuck posted on X claiming that he helped provoked the changes at Lowe's, saying he received an email from a Lowe's executive in response to a warning he sent the company that he planned to "expose" its "woke" policies.

"We’re now forcing multi-billion dollar organizations to change their policies without even posting just from fear they have of being the next company that we expose," he wrote.

So, just who the fuck is this cybergoon before whom the titans of industry tremble and quake?

A Harley-Davidson dealership in Barre, Vermont, with the caveat that it is not speaking for the company as a whole, has posted an accusation that Mr. Starbuck is just in it for the clicks. From its "Defending Harley" post:

Starbuck's recent video is not about genuine concern or informed critique; it’s about generating traffic to his content. By attacking established and respected companies, he knows he can provoke strong reactions, driving more views to his YouTube channel and increasing his ad revenue. This kind of clickbait strategy is not new, and Starbuck is just the latest figure to exploit it. The more controversy he stirs, the more views he gets, which translates to more money in his pocket and name recognition.

By focusing on hot-button issues and framing his attacks in inflammatory terms, Starbuck manipulates his audience’s emotions to keep them engaged. This tactic not only undermines genuine dialogue but also prioritizes his financial gain over truthful discourse. His baseless accusations against Harley-Davidson are part of a broader pattern of sensationalism aimed at monetizing outrage.

I'm not about to add to Mr. Starbuck's page views, but I wouldn't be surprised if he has also awarded himself responsibility for the state of Florida deleting the LGBTQ+ Destinations pages from its tourism website.

So now I wanna see Dykes on Bikes on the next cover of H-D's The Enthusiast magazine just so I can point to my little cartoon and claim the credit.

Q Toon: Reach Out

The impetus for drawing this week's cartoon was the suicide of Henry Berg-Brousseau, a young trans man who had testified courageously before the Kentucky state legislature while still a teenager as it was poised to pass a mean-spirited, punitive, anti-transgender bill. (Which, having a Republican majority, they passed anyway.)

His testimony was featured on John Oliver's "Last Week Tonight"; his death has received international attention.

I became aware of him through his uncle David Brousseau, a fellow cartoonist for Q Syndicate and my editor for a time. I hadn't realized that Henry's mother, Karen Berg, is a Kentucky State Senator.

I will not presume to guess what made Henry decide life wasn't worth living. He had a promising future, having been hired as deputy press secretary for Human Rights Campaign. I know nothing of his personal life; a press release from his mother noted that he had "long struggled with mental illness, not because he was trans but born from his difficulty finding acceptance."

To paraphrase Tolstoy, every happy person is alike; every unhappy person is unhappy in their own way.

So this cartoon is not specifically about Henry Berg-Brousseau. It fails to encompass all the difficulties that transgender persons face. I don't have the expertise giving me the right to recommend any particular therapy or medication. 

But I hope that somehow, someone somewhere sees this in time to decide to stick it out one more day. To reach out to people who do know what to say, and more importantly, are there to listen.

If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or suicidal crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

_________________________

P.S.: To find this cartoon in one piece, visit one of my client publications, such as Q Salt Lake.