Target employees speak out against store’s reaction to right-wing Pride backlash

Target employees are criticizing what they are calling the national retailer’s “haphazard and reactive” response to the 2023 right-wing backlash against its Pride merchandise. Facing violent threats against employees, the retailer moved its merchandise to the back of some stores.

Target then scaled back its Pride gear from the 2,000 items it had last year to just 75 items this year, and it will only carry the items in half of its stores.

Anonymous employees told The Washington Blade that the company’s decision to move its 2023 merchandise “didn’t feel great.” They said Target’s communications team denied employee requests for more information about in-store confrontations over the Pride gear, citing privacy and safety concerns. The employees claimed that some videos on social media in 2023 allegedly showing right-wing backlash to the merchandise had actually been recorded in other years.

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The cited employees claimed the company repeatedly reduced its 2023 Pride-themed merchandise until the available items were about half of what was initially available at the start of Pride season.

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The retailer organized a July 2023 employee “town hall” led by LGBTQ+ senior leadership and featuring talks from two LGBTQ+ executives: Executive Vice President and Chief Growth Officer Christina Hennington and Executive Vice President and Chief Food, Essentials and Beauty Officer Rick Gomez.

At the town hall, the leaders reportedly announced “they were going to pull back on all heritage moments,” meaning any month recognizing a particular demographic, like Pride Month, Black History Month, and National Hispanic Heritage Month. One employee said that the meeting’s attendees “were left with the impression that staff should make peace with the decisions to cut Pride merchandise because the meeting was led by the company’s senior LGBTQ leadership,” The Blade reported.

The company later told supervisors and store teams that the 2024 Pride merchandise would be “segmented” to appear in stores where it was most likely to sell best. The employees told The Blade that the company reportedly planned a 19% reduction in Pride sales overall.

However, this year’s Target Pride gear only features 75 items, all clearly marked for adults — none for kids. Most feature rainbow colors with slogans like “Equality,” “Love Is Love,” and “Pride.” That these 75 items will only be sold in half of the retailer’s stores may not accurately reflect “guest demand” for Pride gear, the employees said.

Though Target participates in Pride events nationwide and supports LGBTQ+ organizations year-round, the employees said the retailer’s commitment to the LGBTQ+ community feels “hollow,” partly because of how it handled the right-wing backlash and partly because the retailer doesn’t sell gender-affirming apparel and merchandise year-round.

In response to the 2023 collection, conservatives falsely claimed that Target was selling Satanic-themed apparel created by a transgender designer, leading to threats against the designer. Employees at one Arizona store kicked out a bigot who called Target’s Pride merchandise “Satanic Pride propaganda.” Target was also accused of selling tucking swimsuits to children (even though the swimsuit in question was only being sold in adult sizes).

Even Republican politicians joined in the attacks on Target. A group of Republican attorneys general threatened legal action against the store for selling products for LGBTQ+ people, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) shared bizarre anti-Target rap videos on social media, and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) called for a boycott of Target for being “woke.”

Target scored 95 out of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2024 Corporate Equality Index, a measure of companies’ LGBTQ+-inclusive workplace policies. Target has an employee resource group called the Pride+ Business Council that creates events and experiences for LGBTQ+ team members to connect and get involved. The company also hosts internal events and experiences during Pride Month for interested employees to learn, reflect, celebrate, and connect with the LGBTQ+ community.

In a statement to LGBTQ Nation, Target said, “Target is committed to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community during Pride Month and year-round. Most importantly, we want to create a welcoming and supportive environment for our LGBTQIA+ team members, which reflects our culture of care for the over 400,000 people who work at Target. We have long offered benefits and resources for the community, and we will have internal programs to celebrate Pride 2024.”

“Beyond our own teams, we will have a presence at local Pride events in Minneapolis and around the country, and we continue to support a number of LGBTQIA+ organizations. Additionally, we will offer a collection of Pride products, including adult apparel, home products, food, and beverages, which have been curated based on guest insights and consumer research. These items, starting at $3, will be available in select stores and on Target.com.”

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