Philz Coffee, a California-based coffee chain, will reverse its plan to remove Pride flags from its cafes following public backlash.
“Every Pride flag that is up stays up, and any Pride flag that was previously removed can be put back up,” the company said in a statement on Friday.
Earlier this month, the company confirmed to the San Francisco Chronicle that it planned to remove Pride flags. Its baristas began circulating a petition calling for a reversal of the policy, which over 1,000 people signed by Wednesday, the Chronicle reported.
Mahesh Sadarangani, the company’s CEO, issued a public apology for the planned flag removals.
“I made a mistake, and I am sincerely sorry,” he said. “To our team members, to our customers, and to the LGBTQIA+ community that has been with us since the very beginning, the confusion and hurt we caused around our new policy for Pride flags failed you.”
Sadarangani said in his statement that the flags are a “symbol of safety and belonging for people who don’t always find that in the world.”
Philz Coffee was purchased by private equity firm Freeman Spogli in August, KQED reports.
The Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBT civil rights organization in the U.S., celebrated the company’s decision not to remove the flags.
“Philz Coffee tried to take down our flags and tamp down our pride — but we served a hot cup of reality,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement to The Advocate. “LGBTQ+ people are part of every community and in every zip code, and over 14,000 HRC members and supporters spoke up to make sure Philz’s leadership couldn’t ignore us.”
The HRC said it organized more than 14,000 of its members and supporters to put pressure on the coffee shop to change course.
“This is a win not just for Philz’s customers but for their LGBTQ+ and allied employees, their shareholders, and the public at large,” Robinson told The Advocate. “Our community spends over $1.4 trillion each year as consumers, and we’ll be watching who stands with us today, tomorrow, and always.”
Sadarangani said his decision came after meeting with a pair of San Francisco Pride leaders to discuss the policy.
“I had the chance to sit down with San Francisco Pride leaders Suzanne Ford and Jupiter Peraza, both are trans women who led this conversation with grace, directness and a genuine commitment to finding alignment on what matters,” he said.
Ford, San Francisco Pride’s executive director, issued a statement praising Sadarangani for being willing to listen and adjust his policy.
“What gave me reason to engage with Mahesh was something I don’t always see from a CEO in this situation: genuine humility. He reached out, listened and understood that this wasn’t about optics,” she wrote. “Mahesh sat with our community members, heard their perspective and apologized, not as a formality but as a person who got it wrong and wanted to make it right. That matters.”
The company said that going forward, it will “also feature locally created artwork shaped by the voices of Team Members and the neighborhoods they serve, a living expression of the diverse communities Philz is proud to be part of.”
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