Several Target stores across the U.S. have reportedly been forced to reduce their LGBTQ Pride merchandise displays and move them toward the back of the store.
A Target insider told Fox News that the move relieved employees on “the front lines” of dealing with angry customers.
The insider said that following “emergency” calls, Target managers and senior directors in southern and rural areas were directed to limit their Pride sections immediately to avoid a “Bud Light situation.”
“We were given 36 hours, told to take all of our Pride stuff, the entire section, and move it into a section that’s a third the size. From the front of the store to the back of the store, you can’t have anything on mannequins and no large signage,” the Target insider, who has worked at the retailer for almost two decades, told Fox.
“We call our customers ‘guests,’ there is outrage on their part. This year it is just exponentially more than any other year,” the Target insider added. “I think given the current situation with Bud Light, the company is terrified of a Bud Light situation.”
For years, Target has featured June Pride month displays, but in 2023 the company’s LGBTQ displays have irritated customers. Among LGBTQ “products,” Target’s clothing line features female bathing suits that provide “extra groin coverage” or “tuck-friendly construction” for men identifying as women.
According to AM Greatness, Target has partnered with Abprallen, a “transgender-Satanist” fashion company, for some of its LGBTQ merchandise. Abprallen sells merchandise with Satanist images. The company’s clothing line features images of pentagrams, horned skulls, and other Satanic products, including pins and shirts that read “Satan Respects Pronouns.”
Target executives are freaking out & moving “pride” displays to the back of the store. But DO NOT CAVE. They’re not apologizing. They’re blaming YOU, claiming conservatives who oppose a Satanist designing queer merchandise for kids are a “threat.” https://t.co/oX0y8gE2Xw
— Liz Wheeler (@Liz_Wheeler) May 24, 2023
The insider told Fox News that “Target rarely makes such hasty decisions,” adding that Corporate spent about 10 minutes at the beginning of the “emergency” calls, explaining “how to deal with team members safety” because of the criticism their Pride merchandise had created. The source said Target Asset Protect and Corporate Security teams were present during the calls.
“The call was super quick, it was 15 minutes. The first 10 minutes was about how to keep your team safe and not having to advocate for Target. The last five was, ‘Move this to the back, take down the mannequins and remove the signage,’” the insider said, noting that this was significant because the LGBTQ displays were moved to the back of the store before Pride Month began.
Target replaced their Pride products with bathing suits in the front of their stores.
“It’s all under the guise of trying to increase swim sales,” the insider said. “Everyone was like, ‘Thank God,’ because we’re all on the front lines dealing with it.”
