Despite the drastic financial blowback Target Corporation has been weathering since announcing its plan last year to allow men to enter women’s bathroom facilities, the retail giant is continuing full-speed ahead in its pursuit of LGBT social activism, all in the name of “inclusivity.”
For the second year, Target is using a #TakePride hashtag on social media to promote its rainbow-themed online merchandise. The retailer’s “pride” paraphernalia include tee-shirts, swim trunks, flip-flops, headphones, iPhone cases and an assortment of other products emblazoned with LBGT logos.
Nice Job Ladies ! We take pride! Available @ T1849 Atlantic Terminal Love is love #takepride #T1849 #loveislove pic.twitter.com/d6N6xeFwXh
— Lashanna Rodriguez (@SoftVIBElines) May 2, 2017
In fact, the retail giant, second in size only to Walmart, has become more well-known for its aggressive support of the LGBT agenda and other progressive policies than any other major retailer:
- Target came under criticism in August 2014 for signing onto an amicus brief to redefine marriage (in the 7th Circuit).
- It was among the first companies to advertise a homosexual “wedding registry” in 2012.
- The same year Target exploited its clothing lines to propagandize the LGBT agenda, selling “Love is Love” tee-shirts to raise money for a group working to defeat a same-sex marriage ban in Minnesota.
- In August 2015, Target eliminated “boys” and “girls” signs from its toys and bedding departments to transcend “unnecessary” gender stereotypes and rid its toy departments of anything that could reflect “gender.”
- Target declared support in September 2015 for the “Equality Act,” which ensures that religious freedom bows to the LGBT agenda.
“Everyone deserves to feel like they belong,” read a statement from the retailer announcing the intensely controversial transgender bathroom policy, which turned half of Target’s red bull’s-eye logo into a “gay”-pride rainbow.
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The company-wide policy came in response to the 2016 North Carolina law requiring transgender people to use bathrooms in government buildings according to the gender on their birth certificates.
Despite widespread public acquiescence to an ever-expanding LBGT agenda, millions of Americans drew the line when Target announced a corporate policy in April 2016 allowing transgender “team members and guests” to use whatever bathroom or restroom the feel corresponds with their perceived gender identity.
That announcement triggered a massive boycott effort (the #BoycottTarget petition) organized by the American Family Association, which gained the support of over a million would-be Target customers in less than a month.
Critics called Target’s policy dangerous, arguing it would only entice predators, pedophiles and sex offenders into ladies’ fitting rooms and restrooms – and they were right. Months after Target announced its new policy, reports of peeping toms started, with teenage girls and women across America catching creepy men secretly filming them while they changed their clothes.
Scrambling to control the damage, the company announced it would spend $20 million to add private single-stall lockable bathrooms at all of its stores, in addition to male and female restrooms, an investment executives viewed as a compromise.
Target, however, has been unable to redeem its brand name and has experienced turmoil since declaring its controversial bathroom policy. Though it has tried to increase revenues by remodeling existing outlets and opening smaller format stores, consumers holding to traditional values were turned off by what they regard as the corporation’s bizarre and dangerous social engineering agenda.
After a year of declining sales and plunging share prices, the retail giant announced its CEO’s compensation would decline by one-third, falling to $11.2 million. In March, Investment advisers downgraded Target to a “strong sell” even as its falling price might be regarded by some as an attractive buy.
CEO Brian Cornell designed Target around an incentive program, under which growth for the company means an increase in his earnings. Yet the company has consistently lost billions.
“Target said it missed its 2016 Incentive EBIT [earnings before interest and taxes] goal of $5.74 billion by $623 million and fell short of its adjusted sales target of $71.62 billion by $2.13 billion,” Reuters reported last week.
In contrast, rival Wal-Mart Stores gave CEO Doug McMillon a 13 percent pay hike, following strong sales performance at the world’s largest retailer. A number of retailers, including Wal-Mart, have policies similar to Target’s, however, they have refrained from publicizing them.
Target’s Cornell admitted in April that he opposed his own company’s transgender bathroom announcement and claimed he only found out about it only after it was made public, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Though Cornell believes the whole situation was mishandled and caused a massive backlash against the company, insiders say he ultimately backed the policy, but felt “stuck” with it.
In an effort to regain profitability, the chain has resorted to firing at least five top executives recently.
