The Starbucks union announced on early Friday morning that stores across the United States would strike over an alleged ban on Pride decorations in stores.

“STRIKE WITH PRIDE! Seattle Roastery leads nationwide Starbucks strike over Starbucks’ hypocritical treatment of LGBTQIA+ workers. Over 150+ stores and 3,500 workers will be on strike over the course of the next week,” the Starbucks Workers United union tweeted.

The Seattle Roastery is one of the company’s flagship stores in its hometown. In a strike letter also posted Friday, the Starbucks union says that the corporation doesn’t recognize the union and has refused to bargain with it. The letter also is more specific about its demands.

“We are taking collective action in response to the company’s unlawful decision to unilaterally alter or terminate store Pride decoration policies without negotiating with our union. We are also striking over numerous unfair labor practices, including but not limited to the company’s refusal to negotiate over a first labor contract,” the letter read.

Starbucks denies that its policies on Pride decorations has changed, according to NBC News. Though the Starbucks union says workers at some stores were told that there weren’t “labor hours” available to spend decorating, or that blocking windows with flags was a safety concern, Starbucks refutes these allegations.

“We unwaveringly support the LGBTQIA2+ community. There has been no change to any policy on this matter and we continue to encourage our store leaders to celebrate with their communities including for U.S. Pride month in June,” Andrew Trull, a spokesperson for the company, told NBC News.

“We’re deeply concerned by false information that is being spread especially as it relates to our inclusive store environments, our company culture, and the benefits we offer our partners,” Trull continued. “There has been no change to any policy on this matter and we continue to encourage our store leaders to celebrate with their communities including for U.S. Pride month in June.”

The Starbucks union cited posts on social media from Starbucks workers sharing that they were told to take down Pride decorations or that they weren’t allowed to put them up in the first place.

Starbucks Corporate is denying any change to their policies on Pride this year – but if that were true, why are there countless stories where workers are claiming the opposite?

Here's just some of what's been sent to us on social media: pic.twitter.com/anAqX6RTw7

— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) June 13, 2023

The union also posted a video showing workers taking down the decorations, and another with Pride flags stored in a bucket during Pride Month.

At this store in Wisconsin, Starbucks partners were told Pride decorations were okay – only to later have their District Manager demand they be taken down for "not being welcoming to everyone." pic.twitter.com/sol4oRmlQG

— Starbucks Workers United (@SBWorkersUnited) June 13, 2023

Starbucks does sell Pride merchandise, including a new line of tumblers designed by a LGBTQ artist. However, it’s unclear from the company’s website if any proceeds go to any LGBTQ charities or causes. The company also touts its support of LGBTQ causes with an official “History of LGBTQIA2+ Inclusion” timeline on its site.

Though Starbucks may back Pride celebrations at a corporate level, the pro-labor organization More Perfect Union says it obtained emails showing that executives moved to cancel Pride celebrations at stores across three states.

“I know there has been some concerns around not decorating for Pride this year,” a store manager in Oklahoma City wrote to workers early June, according to More Perfect Union. “The decision was made last year on a regional level to create consistency from store to store.”

The strike is set to last until 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, when the Starbucks union promises to “unconditionally return to work at that time.”

Featured image by GoToVan via Wikimedia Commons under Creative Commons licence.

As homophobic and transphobic rhetoric ramps up as the far-right tries to pin society’s problems on LGBTQ people, it’s looking like people beyond the GOP’s base are fighting back.

On Saturday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis claimed that the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Pride Night celebration Friday was a bust.

“The virtually empty stadium for the game itself was a powerful image – Americans are fed up with the nonsense and are fighting back,” DeSantis wrote. And though an estimated 2,000 people turned out protest the inclusion of LGBTQ activist group The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, photos of a nearly empty stadium didn’t show the true story. Those pictures were taken about an hour before the game started.

Good on the thousands who showed up at Dodger Stadium to protest this anti-Catholic hate group.

The virtually empty stadium for the game itself was a powerful image – Americans are fed up with the nonsense and are fighting back.https://t.co/Caabq9rNlO

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) June 17, 2023

In fact, the Dodgers sold just over 49,000 tickets—about 87% of the stadium’s total capacity, and 1,200 more than the average Dodgers home game, according to Queerty.

READ MORE: Baseball Commissioner Says Pride Jerseys Make Some Players ‘Uncomfortable’

Or, take the town of Grand Haven, Michigan. Though the town is conservative, and local groups opposed the town’s first ever Pride festival, the city council unanimously approved the plan. Though the event was expected to draw 500 people, according to the Associated Press, about 4,000 came. Even before the event, organizers raised almost double the amount of money they were hoping for and three times the number of vendors expected signed up for the event.

Attempts by Republican politicians to ban drag shows and gender-affirming care have recently been struck down in court. Earlier this month, a Trump-appointed judge struck down a Tennessee law that would have banned drag shows in public where children are present. U.S. District Judge Thomas Parker ruled the ban unconstitutional, saying it violated the First Amendment. Parker added that the law’s stated intent of protecting children from indecency was likely unnecessary, due to the existence of anti-obscenity laws, Newsweek reported.

Florida’s ban on gender-affirming care was also struck down this month, according to the AP. U.S. Circuit Judge Robert Hinkle, appointed by former President Bill Clinton, sided for the parents of transgender children, ruling that there was no reason to deny treatment.

“Gender identity is real. The record makes this clear,” he said, adding that those who think gender is a choice “tend to disapprove all things transgender and so oppose medical care that supports a person’s transgender existence.”

“The treatment will affect the patients themselves, nobody else,” Hinkle said, “and will cause the defendants no harm.”