The Free Enterprise Project (FEP), a conservative shareholder activism group, is pressuring Target to assess the financial risks associated with its partnerships with LGBT organizations. The move comes as part of FEP’s broader campaign to oppose what it calls the “woke takeover” of American corporations.
In an interview with Breitbart News Daily, Scott Shepard, the general counsel for the National Center for Public Policy Research and director of FEP, discussed the group’s plans to confront Target at its upcoming annual shareholder meeting on June 12. FEP has submitted a shareholder proposal requesting a report on Target’s partnerships, charitable contributions, and other support for certain organizations.
The proposal’s supporting statement highlights Target’s paid partnerships with the Human Rights Campaign, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, and Out&Equal, arguing that these organizations have “disastrously engaged in such activism when it aggressively touted radical gender theory in its stores.”
FEP contends that Target’s board should conduct an evaluation to determine if these partnerships pose a financial risk to the company, particularly in light of the recent conservative backlash against Target’s promotion of progressive causes.
Shepard acknowledged the difficulty in influencing corporate leaders, stating, “Having dealt with a lot of CEOs, boards of directors, and chief executives etc., they are such an arrogant and divorced from anything that’s going on in this country.”
The Free Enterprise Project’s efforts are part of a broader conservative campaign to use shareholder activism to challenge corporations that promote progressive causes and policies.
