Target removes LGBTQ products after customer backlash | US News
US retailer Target is removing some items from its LGBTQ Pride collection after facing a backlash from customers.
“Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work,” it said in a statement.
“Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the centre of the most significant confrontational behaviour.”
Target did not specify which items it was removing, but its Pride Collection includes “gender fluid” mugs, “queer all year” calendars and books for children aged two-eight titled Pride 1, 2, 3, I’m Not A Girl and Bye Bye, Binary.
The collection contains more than 2,000 products.
One of the items that received the most backlash was a women’s swimsuit described as “tuck friendly”, which would allow trans women who have not had surgery to tuck their genitalia.
Designs by London-based company Abprallen, which designs and sells occult and satanic-themed LGBTQ clothing and accessories, have also been criticised.
A Target spokesperson told Reuters the products it is withdrawing would be removed from its US stores and website.
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A search for Abprallen merchandise on Target.com returned no results on Wednesday.
The Pride Collection has been on sale since May ahead of Pride month in June.
Some Target stores in Southern US states were moving Pride-related merchandise away from the front of their shops, Fox News reported.
Transgender issues have become highly divisive topic
Target and other retailers such as Walmart and H&M have been expanding their LGBTQ offerings to celebrate Pride month for around a decade.
But transgender issues, such as gender-affirming health care and participation of trans athletes in sports, have become a highly divisive topic in state legislatures and the backlash has at times turned hostile.
Beer brand Bud Light is still facing a backlash from customers angered by the company partnering with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney, with its parent company saying it would triple its marketing spending in the US this summer in an attempt to restore sales it lost after the partnership.
