Target came under intense scrutiny this week after the retail giant announced it was recalling some LGBTQ-themed products following what a corporate spokesperson described as «threats that impact our team members’ sense of safety and well-being at the job».
Targeted customers posted videos on TikTok showing that Pride product displays had been moved to less visible locations, including the back of the store.
“Very disappointed in @target at this time,” one TikTok user wrote in a caption to a video apparently shot at a Target location in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. “You literally hid your LGBTQ ‘support’ so as not to offend small-minded hateful people. However, don’t seem too concerned about offending your own employees and loyal customers.»
Target’s corporate communications department did not immediately respond to an email containing a list of questions, including which Pride items were removed and the nature of the threats against employees.
In a statement Tuesday night, a Target spokesperson said the company has «offered a variety of products aimed at celebrating Pride Month» for more than a decade. But “since we introduced this year’s collection, we have experienced threats that affect our team members’ sense of safety and well-being at work.
“Given these volatile circumstances,” the spokesperson said, “we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior. Our focus now is on continuing our ongoing engagement with the LGBTQIA+ community and supporting them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year.»
The company did not immediately respond to a question about how members of the LGBTQ community might perceive the corporate decision.
In some stores in the South, the Pride displays appeared to have been moved to less conspicuous areas.
At Target in Cary, North Carolina, two employees who did not want to give their names said the Pride collection was unveiled at the store front last week. The display is now further back, in the women’s clothing section, and women’s swimwear has been moved closer to the front. One employee said management told them to «turn things around» but didn’t give them a reason.
A TikTok user reclaimed that Target in Cypress, Texas, moved its Pride collection to the back of the store after a customer complained to upper management.
In a phone interview, the manager of the Cypress, Texas, store referred NBC News to the corporate offices, but said moving the Pride collection to the back was a «total company decision» that «had nothing to do with it.» see with the store».
The pullback did not appear to affect all stores. Brian Sing, a senior merchandise planner at a Target location in Brooklyn, New York, said the store’s large Pride display was installed about two weeks ago and employees haven’t received any instructions to remove it.
Target’s large selection of Pride merchandise also comes amid an unprecedented time for LGBTQ rights in America. This year, 480 landmark anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the country. according to the American Civil Liberties Unionwith lawmakers enacting laws to restrict education on LGBTQ issues in schools, drag performances, and transition-related healthcare, among other provisions.
In a tweet Wednesday morning, right-wing personality Matt Walsh wrote that his «goal» was to «make ‘pride’ toxic» for brands.
“If you decide to throw this garbage in our faces, you must know that you will pay a price,” he wrote. «It won’t be worth what they think they’ll earn.»
Walsh alluded to the firestorm surrounding Bud Light after the beer brand partnered with transgender social media influencer Dylan Mulvaney this spring. Bud Light sales have fallen after an online campaign and calls for boycotts.
“First Bud Light and now Target,” Walsh tweeted. “Our campaign is progressing. Keep going so».
Other conservative activists he almost declared victory, too. In a tweet, self-described «anti-wake-up» activist Rogan O’Handley celebrated the falling business value of Bud Light and falling shares of Target on Wednesday. «THIS IS WHAT WINNING LOOKS LIKE,» he tweeted.
Target hired LGBTQ designers for its Pride collection last year, saying it wanted to «authentically celebrate the community,» according to a company news release. The brand continued its partnership with queer designers for its collection this year.
Conservative activists have had a particular problem with clothing from the collection for children and a «dress-up» bathing suit for adults. Children’s clothing items include supportive slogans, such as “just be you” and “trans people will always be around!”.
British designer Erik Carnell, one of the LGBTQ contributors to the Pride collection, had his products removed from the company’s website in recent days. He called the retailer’s decision to remove its products, which included garments containing supportive messages such as «cure transphobia, not trans people» and «we belong everywhere,» as «wrong» and «justified.»
“It is difficult because on the one hand I am obviously completely against it. I think they should defend their principles. If you’re going to have an LGBTQ-created and focused Pride range, then…you’ve got to stay that way,” she said. “However, if I were working as a retail clerk at a Target store, in an open carry state, I wouldn’t feel safe. So, I understand your thought process in extracting some of the elements. Justified or not, the safety of your employees must be paramount.»
Carnell’s association with Target has come under scrutiny by opponents of the company’s Pride collection largely for its use of satanic symbolism in some of its designs. None of the Carnell products sold at Target contain satanic images. However, that hasn’t stopped the «hundreds and hundreds» of threatening emails she says she’s received in recent days.
“I was overwhelmed by what a huge opportunity this could be: the number of people who would see my work who otherwise would never have been exposed to it, the people who are in lockdown who needed to see something positive when they walk in a retail store,” Carnell said. . “And in the space of a handful of days, all of that has been completely taken from me and I am left to deal with the death threats and the hate mail and the grooming allegations with absolutely no support from Target.”
In a statement Wednesday, the LGBTQ rights organization GLAAD said «anti-LGBTQ violence and hate» would persist «until corporate leaders become heroes to their LGBTQ employees and consumers and don’t give in to fringe activists calling for censorship».
“The fact that a small group of extremists is threatening ugly, harsh violence in response to Target continuing its long tradition of offering products for everyone should be a wake-up call to consumers and a reminder that people LGBTQ, places and events are under attack with threats and violence like never before,” said GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis.
David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, said Target’s actions reflect a «shallow» commitment to its alliance with the LGBTQ community by «indicating that they care more about heartbreaking hatemongers than they do about supporting communities in need.» support,» he said.