The group, working on behalf of the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR), served Target Corporation with a “formal demand for the production of corporate books and records” about its alleged support for a “radical LGBT political agenda” that has reported cost the company billions in market valuation since the middle of last month, according to a news release issued Tuesday.
Because the NCPPR is a Target shareholder, America First Legal (AFL) said that its client has concerns about the possible risk that’s being posed by selling LGBT-related merchandise.
“Target’s 2022 annual report acknowledges that the corporation’s core customer base is made up of ‘families,’” AFL wrote. “It further recognizes the serious risk to Target’s company’s financial prospects if that core customer base sours on the corporation” by saying, “Our continued success is dependent on positive perceptions of Target which, if eroded, could adversely affect our business and our relationships with our guests and team members.”
In spite of that, according to AFL, Target’s management “recklessly bent the knee” to leftists by donating to GLSEN, which describes itself as a group that “Promotes LGBT Activism in Schools” and “apparently supports this mission because funding GLSEN is knowingly, or with reckless disregard, subsidizing GLSEN’s policy of violating parents’ rights and promoting secret gender transitions for kids.”
Other concerns that were flagged by AFL include the more than 100 products under Target’s “LGBT Pride: Kids’ Clothing“ section on its website, ”which are often modeled by very young children and almost always feature themes designed to attract and interest them, like rainbow Mickey Mouse symbols.” Products include LGBT-themed bibs, onesies, and other items for newborn children.
In a statement, Miller wrote that “for Target to voluntarily and aggressively associate itself with this movement is an act of sabotage against Target shareholders and a destroyer of value—including for countless Americans for whom shares of Target are part of the pension funds, mutual funds and retirement accounts on which they depend.”
AFL “is proud to represent American shareholders financially harmed by Target’s descent into gender extremism and child exploitation,” said Miller.
Backlash
Over the past month, Target’s shares have declined by about 15.71 percent, although on Tuesday morning, the retailer’s stock increased by about 1 percent over Monday’s trading. Starting in mid-May, a number of conservative influencers on Twitter expressed alarm at “pride”-related products that were being sold at Target, including the aforementioned LGBT items for small children and infants.Target’s stock was downgraded again on Monday by KeyBanc Capital Markets from overweight to sector weight on Monday, although analysts did not mention the boycott. They instead stated that consumer spending pressures caused by the federal renewal of student-loan repayments are the reason why the stock was downgraded.
About a week before that, a JPMorgan analyst downgraded Target to neutral due to “too many concerns rising” regarding the retail giant, including the boycott.
Target last month said in a statement that it would be removing some of those products. That statement further claimed that store employees received threats or had to deal with customers’ “confrontational behavior” over the products.
“Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and wellbeing while at work,” Target said, without elaborating. “Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior.”
In that statement, the Minneapolis-based firm did not specify which products had been taken from its shelves. A number of onesies and shirts that sparked the outrage were still available online as of Tuesday morning.
Another item that drew anger on social media was a so-called “tuck”-friendly swimsuit that appears to be marketed to males who claim to be transgender females. A spokesperson for Target told news outlets last month that the item was only being sold to adults and not children.
The boycott comes on the heels of a highly visible public backlash against Bud Light after the Anheuser-Busch-owned brand decided to produce a can of beer with transgender activist Dylan Mulvaney’s face on it. And like Target, several other retailers like PetSmart and Kohl’s have faced scorn for selling similar, “pride”-themed products.
