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Starbucks’ LGBTQ+ sensitivity training video is one of 2023’s most hilariously cringeworthy moments

“Who wrote this? Michael Scott?”
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A clip from a Starbucks sensitivity training module that went viral.
A clip from a Starbucks sensitivity training module that went viral. Photo: Screenshot

A clip from what is reportedly a Starbucks employee sensitivity training video went viral earlier this year, and it is possibly one of the most hilariously cringe-worthy moments of 2023. And in a year that saw Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) attempting to smile like a human being, Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) vaping and groping her date during a touring production of Beetlejuice, and literally everything that Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has said and done, well, that’s really saying something.

Posted in March by TikTok user Jay (@noelaniis), the clip shows one animated character, Latoya, holding a door open for another, Raj.

Related:

Lesbian says she was passed over for Starbucks promotion because she’s “gay” & “looks like a boy”

The manager allegedly promoted a straight woman he wanted to have sex with instead.

“If Latoya holds the door for Raj when she notices his hands are full, it’s a common courtesy,” the training video’s voiceover explains. “By contrast, if Latoya holds the door for Raj and mutters, ‘Gay men are so weak,’ that could be considered harassment.”

“Why would anyone say that unprompted,” text superimposed over the TikTok video reads.

“Straight people dont [sic] even work at starbucks [sic],” the user joked in the post’s caption. “What is this for?”

@noelaniis

straight people dont even work at starbucks what is this for #starbucks #barista #fyp

♬ original sound – jay

TikTok users flooded the post with comments about how absurd the training module seemed.

“Who wrote this? Michael Scott?” one user joked.

“Doing these modules always felt like a hate crime, it was so overly exaggerated,” another wrote.

“They throw some mean ass insults in there,” Jay responded.

“I think the people that make these things just have some very specific insults they want to get out,” another joked.

Others joked about the narrator’s delivery of the line. “Dude just wanted to say it,” one user commented.

“That’s what I’m saying LMAO,” Jay replied, “a little too enthusiastic w [sic] it.”

“Latoya wouldn’t say that,” one of the character’s many defenders joked. Others seemed ready to anoint Latoya as a new LGBTQ+ icon.

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