Is Hobby Lobby Woke?

Is Hobby Lobby Woke in 2026?

No — and it never has been. The privately held craft retailer, founded in 1972 and still owned by founder David Green's conservative Christian family, had no corporate DEI program to quietly retire when other retailers retreated from diversity initiatives in 2024-2025. Hobby Lobby has never participated in the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index — a June 2026 search of the HRC employer database returns no listing for the company — and it has no record of Pride Month sponsorships. Its stores remain closed on Sundays to give employees time for worship and family.

The company's conservative credentials run deep. It won Burwell v. Hobby Lobby at the Supreme Court in 2014, establishing that closely held religious companies could not be forced to cover certain contraceptives. That posture continues today: in May 2026, Metro Weekly and other outlets reported, citing IRS filings, that the Green family's Servant Foundation donated $300,000 to Them Before Us, a group in a coalition seeking to overturn the Obergefell same-sex marriage decision. Fact-checkers at Snopes also examined the claims, and the reporting notes the money flowed through the family's charitable foundation rather than from the corporation itself. The same foundation helps fund the "He Gets Us" Jesus advertising campaign that David Green confirmed backing in 2022.

Notably, the boycott calls aimed at Hobby Lobby come almost entirely from progressive and LGBTQ activists — over the contraception ruling and the family's donations — not from conservatives. Meanwhile the company raised its full-time minimum wage to $19.25 effective October 2024, its 13th self-imposed increase since 2009. Hobby Lobby scores 3/100 on the BuyWokeFree index, a score that reflects its cumulative multi-year record as one of America's most consistently conservative major retailers.

Hobby Lobby, the Oklahoma City-based arts and crafts retail chain, stands as one of the most explicitly conservative major brands in America. Founded by David and Barbara Green, the privately held company operates according to Biblical principles -- all stores close on Sundays, operate only 66 hours per week, and start full-time hourly workers at more than double the federal minimum wage.

The company made national headlines with its landmark 2014 Supreme Court victory in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, where the court ruled 5-4 that closely held corporations could refuse to provide contraceptive coverage based on religious objections. This case became a cornerstone of religious liberty jurisprudence in the United States.

Hobby Lobby does not participate in the HRC Corporate Equality Index, has no DEI programs, runs no Pride campaigns, and publishes no ESG reports. The Green family donates extensively to conservative and Christian organizations including the Alliance Defending Freedom, the Conservative Partnership Institute, and various Republican candidates. Through the Servant Foundation, the Greens have funded efforts aligned with traditional Christian values. For conservative consumers, Hobby Lobby represents one of the clearest woke-free options in the retail space.