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Target will be removing some of its LGBTQ+ items from its Pride Month collection after facing customer reactions that endangered the safety of its employees, the company said.
The company’s website features hundreds of colorful Pride products, including men’s rainbow shirts, pint glasses that say “Cheers Queers” and a children’s book about pronouns.
Target, one of America’s largest general merchandise retailers, which operates more than 1,900 stores nationwide, said the company has offered products to mark Pride month, usually in June, for more than a decade. But this year’s gathering has prompted threats that put workers’ safety at risk, company spokeswoman Kayla Castañeda said in a statement.
“Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing elements that have been the focus of the most significant confrontational behavior,” she said.
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The company did not specify which items were removed. In recent days, however, misinformation has focused on children’s swimsuits, which have been falsely labeled as “pocket-friendly” by prominent conservative groups and media. The tuck-in-friendly swimsuits were adult-only, the Associated Press reported. Tuck-friendly swimwear offers added protection, allowing trans women to hide their genitals without gender-confirming surgeries.
Some conservatives have also called for a boycott of Target over its partnership with UK-based brand Rebound, which they say features satanic designs. Among the ricocheting pieces Target sold were a sweatshirt with an image of a snake that said “Cure transphobia, not trans people” and a shoulder bag that said “We belong everywhere.”
A previous Instagram post by the designer, flagged by conservative media groups, read, “Satan respects pronouns.” The caption explains that Satanists do not believe in Satan, but invoke him as a symbol of passion and pride.
The disputed products will be removed from all US stores of Target and its website, Portal reported, adding that while other items would be reviewed, only bounce products had been removed.
“Staying true to yourself and your community is something to celebrate year-round,” says the Pride section of the company’s website, inviting customers to post their Target finds using the hashtag #TakePride .
On Twitter, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) accused Target CEO Brian Cornell of “selling the LGBTQ+ community to extremists.” The decision of the target Added Newsom“is a systematic attack on the gay community across the country,” which he warned does not stop at Pride articles.
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In April, Bud Light beer faced a similar backlash and slump in sales after Republicans called for a boycott of its partnership with transgender actress and comedian Dylan Mulvaney, forcing the company’s CEO to comment.
“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. Our business is bringing people together over a pint,” Brendan Whitworth wrote in one at the time open letter on the company’s Twitter account.
While transgender issues are at the heart of the culture wars that are turning US politics upside down, conservatives have also targeted corporations over other hot issues such as abortion and gun control.
When Walgreens announced its intention to start dispensing abortion drugs in its retail stores this year, Republican attorneys general banded together and threatened legal action, prompting the company to overturn its decision in the red states.
In March, Visa and Mastercard reversed a decision to categorize purchases at gun stores after Republican-controlled states took a similar step.