As part of the ongoing debate regarding which public bathrooms transgender individuals should use, the Target chain of retail stores came out publicly to welcome any transgender guests or employees to use the bathroom of the gender with which they self-identified.
The public position taken by Target stood in stark contrast to that held by a majority of the American people, resulting in a fierce backlash against the retailer and a growing boycott of roughly three-quarters of a million people vowing to never shop at the store again.
According to BizPac Review, a statement released by Target in response to the boycott seemingly recognized the trouble they have brought upon themselves, yet unexpectedly doubled down on its “inclusive” policies that were actually viewed as rather exclusive to most people.
“In our stores, we demonstrate our commitment to an inclusive experience in many ways,” read the statement. “Most relevant for the conversations currently underway, we welcome transgender team members and guests to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity.”
Everyone deserves to feel like they belong. An update
from @Target on #inclusivity https://t.co/RWNtOKpy5D— Target News (@TargetNews) April 19, 2016
“We regularly assess issues and consider many factors such as impact to our business, guests and team members,” the statement continued. “Given the specific questions these legislative proposals raised about how we manage our fitting rooms and restrooms, we felt it was important to state our position.”
That statement hasn’t sat well with the American Family Association, which is responsible for organizing the boycott and stood by its original assessment of Target’s “open bathroom” policy.
We are announcing boycott of @Target due to their dangerous bathroom policy. https://t.co/GQI0Oe8VAO #BoycottTarget pic.twitter.com/RB11tfeXDW
— American Family Assc (@AmericanFamAssc) April 21, 2016
“Clearly, Target’s dangerous new policy poses a danger to wives and daughters,” their petition to boycott stated. “We think many customers will agree. And we think the average Target customer is willing to pledge to boycott Target stores until it makes protecting women and children a priority.”
It remains to be seen if Target will continue to bow to the agenda of the radical left and pander to an incredibly tiny portion of the population at the expense of literally hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of everyday Americans who simply want to shop in a store without fear their safety could be compromised. Red Flag News
