Target is now moving to take certain LGBTQ-centric items off store shelves after some intense customer threats and sometimes violent confrontations with workers. The move comes with Pride Month just around the corner.
“Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work,” Target said in a statement Tuesday. ”Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior.”
Target said that despite the removal of their Pride-positive merchandise, “our focus now is on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year.”
Though Target declined to say which items it was definitely going to remove, the most attention in recent days was given to “tuck friendly” women’s swimsuits that allow trans women without gender-affirming operations to conceal their private parts. Those swimsuits were the center of a false claim parroted by conservatives that they were being sold in kids’ sizes alongside the adult sizes. Designs by Abprallen, a London-based company that sells LGBTQ clothing and accessories with an occult theme, have also generated criticism. A search for Abprallen merchandise on Target.com on Tuesday showed “0” results, though screenshots and posts on social media show that Target previously sold a $25 slogan sweater with the words “cure transphobia not trans people” and an $18 “too queer for here” tote bag.
Target’s backlash comes as Bud Light is still grappling with the fallout from their decision to enlist trans activist Dylan Mulvaney as a spokesperson.
