Copeland's Corner: June 1, 2023
Target has allowed people like Marjorie Taylor Greene to decide what we can and can’t buy.
Happy June! Today marks the beginning of Pride Month, the time for the recognition of the LGBTQ community and the celebration of its inclusion into the fabric of societal life. It’s a time for people of different orientations who feel marginalized and alone to realize that they really aren’t all by themselves. A chance to express pride in who they are and who they were born to be. As far as I’m concerned, Pride should be a celebration for all people. It should be a time that we open our arms, our hearts, and our minds to LGBTQ people, many of whom have spent lives being bullied and persecuted, hiding in fear because they couldn’t tell anyone who they are. It’s a time when we let kids, a lot of whom are dealing with depression, self-harm, and suicidal ideation know that it’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with them or who they are.
Unfortunately, we never seem to be in short supply of ignorance in this country and there are some Americans who don’t feel that way. Worse yet, they’re doing everything they possibly can to stop you from showing your support for this perpetually maligned group.
For the last several years, a number of national retail chains have celebrated (and financially profited) from Pride month. Stores like Kohl’s, Walmart and Target have sold merchandise with supportive messages and rainbow designs, ostensibly to show their support. Target in particular had been at the forefront of marketing and selling Pride-related items.
A few days ago, my daughter was shopping at a Target store in the Bay Area for some household items when she came upon a candle that simply had the words, “He, She, They.” My daughter is probably the best person I know, and inclusion is a key component of who she is in both word and deed. She tossed the candle into her shopping basket. When she got to the register, the cashier scanned the prices of her purchases into the register. All was going fine until he got to the candle. When it was scanned, a price didn’t come up, instead the bold message DO NOT SELL popped up instead. Perplexed, the clerk tried scanning the candle again. Same message. A store manager was called over for assistance and he explained that the item was not available, was placed out on the store floor by mistake and that he couldn’t allow my daughter to buy it.
Keep in mind, that this candle only said, “He, She, They.”
Upon further examination we learned that Target stores have been the object of an anti-LGBTQ hate campaign led by right wing media, MAGA personalities and legislators and the “Christian” right. I put the word “Christian” in quotes here because Jesus would have nothing to do with the ideology of these people.
In this campaign against Target, the intolerant and ignorant provocateurs have labelled members of the LGBTQ community as “evil” and “Satanic.” They claim that the selling of merchandise like my daughter’s candle exists to “groom” children into a gay or trans “lifestyle.” Right wing media personalities have called Target CEO Brian Cornell “a pervert groomer.” Target employees have been harassed and threatened with physical violence in some parts of the country. The “Christian” right has even coordinated a boycott of the chain. As a result of the boycott, Target shares have fallen for nine straight days as of this writing and the chain has lost an estimated ten billion dollars in revenue. Keep in mind that most of the items deemed offensive have been available at Target every Pride month for years and there’s been no problem.
Citing “threats that have affected employees’ sense of safety,” Target has stopped selling the celebratory merchandise that this vocal minority considers offensive. According to polls, their sentiment is not shared by the overwhelming majority of the American people, but Target has allowed people like Marjorie Taylor Greene to decide what we all can and can’t buy. This is a dangerous precedent. By kowtowing to a group of bigoted bullies, Target has emboldened them. Word is they’re going after Kohl’s next.
If Target will give in to the ignorant on this, what happens when the rowdy right pulls the same tactic regarding merchandise celebrating Juneteenth? Or MLK Day? Or Black History Month? Or Hanukkah? Or Ramadan? Will threats and boycotts prevent the sale of merchandise commemorating these celebrations as well because a small (yet loud) group is offended? We’re already allowing them to ban books with little pushback or repercussion. Are we going to allow them to dictate our purchasing choices as well?
After my daughter told me her story about the candle, my first inclination was to withhold my retail dollars from Target because they caved. They profited from Pride for years, then, at the first sign of controversy, threw it under the bus. Then I thought more about it and realized that the opposite tactic is what’s needed here. I’m going to spend more money at Target. The right-wing boycott is costing them billions and allowing the bigots to claim victory. By spending money at Target, we offset the fiscal impact of their boycott thus neutralizing it as a potential weapon that can be used against tolerance and inclusion in the years to come. I’m also going to make it a point to shop at Kohl’s and Walmart and I encourage you to do the same. You don’t have to buy Pride-related items at those stores if you don’t want to. Just buy something, because large numbers of consumers spending money at these stores as a show of support will create a sense of futility in attacking them in the future as well.
At the end of the day, all that this exercise in censorship has done is shown us that intolerance and bigotry are alive and well and we must all remain vigilant in pushing back against them.