The liberal press is abuzz over Target’s decision to limit—but not eliminate—merchandise related to “Pride Month” across the 2,000-store chain.
If that sounds like last year’s news to some readers, there is a reason for that. Target based its decision on the retailer’s 2023 experiences.
Trying to Avoid an Old Problem
Last year’s so-called Pride Month (June) had not even begun when Target’s Chief Executive Officer, Brian Cornell, saw the need to react to the repercussions of a public relations disaster. On May 25, 2023, Bloomberg quoted Mr. Cornell.
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“‘What you’ve seen in recent days went well beyond discomfort, and it has been gut-wrenching to see what you’ve confronted in our aisles,’ he said in a memo to store employees. He then thanked them for their ‘patience and professionalism through high volumes of angry, abusive and threatening calls.’”
Indeed, 2023 was not a good year for Target. The company’s stock price, which stood at $261.05 in July 2021, plummeted to $126.99 during the depth of the “Pride Month” controversy.
Two Big Woke Disasters
Last year was no picnic for the LGBT movement, either. One need only mention the brand name “Bud Light” to bring one of the worst disasters in the history of marketing to many minds.
Three months later, Target confronted its customers with in-store displays promoting “Always Proud” baby bibs, a book for four-year-olds titled Bye Bye, Binary and t-shirts proclaiming “Rebel Girls Celebrate Pride,” the reaction was massive.
Both Target and Anheuser-Bush became symbols of America’s resistance to the LGBT agenda. Nationwide protests against the retailer, including one from the American TFP, proved that conservative Americans reject radical attempts to take over the culture.
Thus, one could understand if Mr. Cornell and the Target executive suite wished to skip “Pride Month” 2024. But, of course, they can’t. The word ‘forgiveness” is not found in the woke lexicon, and the leftists’ thirst to punish anxious former allies is intense. Again, there is a parallel to the Bud Light imbroglio. A May 2024 article in LGBTQ Nation proclaimed, “Bud Light Says It Will Avoid More Boycotts by Never Standing for Anything.”
Trapping Target
Unlike the brewers in St. Louis, Target has a long history of support for radical social movements. As early as 2016, the company committed itself to the LGBT program, announcing that men who “identify as women” could use women’s restrooms and changing rooms. Even liberal NPR had to acknowledge that the uproar was furious when more than 550,000 people signed pledges to boycott the stores. To quell the controversy without admitting their mistake, the corporation invested $20 million to install single-stall restrooms in stores nationwide.
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If anything, the LGBT movement has grown more radical than it was in 2016, and conservative Americans are far more conscious of the threats that faction represents. In their hearts, Target’s leadership badly wants to promote radical agendas. However, repeating the 2023 disaster would be economically catastrophic. At the same time, abandoning the “Pride” promoters also contains great risk. Consider the abuse that “peaceful protestors” poured out at the very liberal Columbia University during the pro-Hamas “encampment.” Gathering the troops for similar disruptions at Target’s Minneapolis headquarters would take less than an afternoon.
An Unwise and Ineffective Compromise
Desperate, Target attempts to embark on a middle course. Roughly half of its stores will not carry the 2024 crop of “LGBTQ-themed merchandise.” Presumably, these will be in areas the company identifies as more conservative. The method they use to choose those stores is, doubtless, a trade secret and will remain tightly under wraps. Radicals living in such benighted regions can rest easy because the items will be available nationwide on the Target website.
Target has to know that leftists will reject such concessions to public morality. For the “wokesters,” the issue is not being able to find t-shirts or baby bibs. The Young Communists and the Antifa crowd don’t care if Target makes a profit, either. Their one concern is promoting the movement. Corporations who help them gain no respect. They are merely Karl Marx’s “useful idiots.” To radical minds, such attempts to salvage corporate revenue are indistinguishable from treason. Nonetheless, Target hopes to polish its tarnished reputation for social justice. To do so, it has a six-point “plan” to “support and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month and year-round.”
- Our Pride+ Business Council will host internal events and experiences where interested team members can learn, reflect, celebrate and connect. It’s complemented by the year-round resources and benefits we provide to our LGBTQIA+ team members, reflecting our culture of care for all 400,000 people who work at Target.
- We’re joining local Pride events in our hometown of Minneapolis and around the country.
- We’re offering a collection of products, including adult apparel and home and food and beverage items, curated based on consumer feedback. The collection will be available on Target.com and in select stores based on historical sales performance.
- We continue to support LGBTQIA+ organizations year-round, including the Human Rights Campaign, Family Equality and more.
- Target also spotlights LGBTQ-owned brandsin our assortment during Pride Month and throughout the year in our stores and online.
Toys, Bibs, Blankets and T-Shirts
Target must think that those who oppose the LGBT movement’s goals won’t want to look at the “LGBTQ+ Owned Brand” page that they so thoughtfully provide for their radical customers.
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Surprisingly, the offerings there are relatively few. There are the usual embroidered hats, sportswear and shopping bags. Most of these are manufactured by “The Phluid Project.” The language on Phluid’s “About Us” webpage is straight out of the sixties.
“We are Phluid. Phluid in our expression, externally to the world and internally to ourselves. Phluid means dissolving the artificial boundaries of gender, skin color, and status, we and they. Phluid means following like water, free from contracts we never agreed to sign. Phluid means embracing the core idea that this is our world, and that the way things are is unrelated to how things could be.”
Committed customers can also purchase baby accessories made by “Bazzle Baby.” They manufacture blankets and bibs. However, unlike last year’s offerings, these contain no printed messages of prideful support. However, the company’s founder, Michaelene Cadiz, provides the necessary connection in a blurb on the “About Bazzle Baby” webpage. “As a Hispanic, LGBTQ, and Women-Owned business, I have made it a priority to build a brand that celebrates diversity and to create products that are both stylish and helpful to modern families.”
Continued Resistance
The page is rounded out by a line of Kombucha teas called “GT’s Living Foods,” toymaker “TeeTurtle,” “Peanut Butter and Company” and McMiller Entertainment’s game “It’s Bananas.” This last company’s site thanks customers for “supporting a small queer-owned business.”
The very absurdity of the “LGBTQ+ Owned Brand” page points to the futile nature of Target’s attempt to appease the mainstream. Their bid to soothe middle America while simultaneously keeping the radical fringe happy is doomed to failure. This double-dealing gambit fools no one.
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Part of the 2016 resistance to Target’s restroom fiasco was the American Family Association (AFA). In a recent e-mail, AFA’s President, Tim Wildmon, succinctly spelled out the current situation. “We know the LGBTQ crowd is going to put pressure on Target to reverse its decision to cut back on ‘Pride’ displays. Our resolve to convince the company to drop the offensive displays should be no less passionate. We’ve already seen that our actions DO make a difference. Let’s continue to stand for moral values when corporate America tries to undermine them.”
Photo Credit: © IanDewarPhotography – stock.adobe.com