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COWARDLY Target kills its LGBTQ+ Pride Month merch, bends knee to right-wing hate
The retailer, which has almost 2,000 locations across the United States, will only stock Pride products in about half of their stores.
Target won't be pinkwashing this year, thanks to a cowardly new decision to cut LGBTQ+ Pride Month merchandise from some of its stores this year, according to Bloomberg.
The retailer, which has almost 2,000 locations across the United States, will only stock Pride products in about half of their stores, sources close to the situation told the outlet. The company is still determining which stores will carry the merchandise based on recent sales data. All products will still be available online.
A Target spokesperson only said: “Target is committed to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month and year-round."
The retailer has celebrated Pride Month every June for over a decade with a collection honoring the LGBTQ+ community. Target began removing some Pride items in certain locations in May last year after threats were made to their employees’ safety, a company spokesperson told The Advocate at the time.
"Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work," they said. The behavior ranged from confrontations between customers and workers and items being thrown, to bomb threats or direct threats against employee safety.
Target CEO Brian Cornell later defended the decision to pull products, telling CNBC in November that employees experienced "very aggressive behavior," including threats, destruction of merchandise, and disruptions in the cashier area being reported. Some escalated the hostility by yelling at employees and threatening to “light product on fire” within the stores.
Bloomberg's recent report did not include mentions of employee safety concerns, but rather cited the company as being motivated by the financial impact of the outrage. Target sales dropped 5 percent from April to June compared to the same time period the previous year, the company reported at the time.
The Target spokesperson said they expect second quarter sales to improve this year, though they did not elaborate as to how.
Ryan is a staff writer at the Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel 'Someone Else's Stars', and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics. In her free time, Ryan likes watching New York Rangers hockey, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.
Ryan is a staff writer at the Advocate, and a graduate of New York University Tisch's Department of Dramatic Writing, with a focus in television writing and comedy. She first became a published author at the age of 15 with her YA novel 'Someone Else's Stars', and is now a member of GALECA, the LGBTQ+ society of entertainment critics. In her free time, Ryan likes watching New York Rangers hockey, listening to the Beach Boys, and practicing witchcraft.
