Target’s Pride Month collection has been at the center of controversy this month as far-right TikTokers have taken to the stores to troll customers and merchandise. Now, Target is pulling some of that Pride Month collection from stores after the controversy reached a boiling point and threatened team-members’ safety.
In a statement to USA Today, Target said, “Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work. 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.”
Though the statement did not specify exactly which items will be removed, it is safe to assume that they include “tuck friendly” swimsuits that sent the far-right internet into a frenzy when a TikToker falsely declared the swim bottoms were for children. (Tuck friendly swimsuits allow trans women to conceal male genitals.)
Yesterday, Fox News stated that Target stores were trying to avoid a “Bud Light situation,” referring to the recent controversy surrounding the beer company after it sent trans influencer, Dylan Mulvaney, a can with her face on it. Many conservatives decided to boycott Bud Light following its involvement with Mulvaney, with some even filming themselves destroying Bud Light cans.
This ongoing public controversy takes place during a time where transgender rights are being threatened by anti-trans legislation across the country.
Hundreds of bills targeting LGBTQ people – particularly transgender people, nonbinary people, and drag queens – have been introduced by Republican lawmakers throughout the US. The bills range in the ways they seek to harm the queer community: through regulating bathroom use, banning public drag, rolling back medical care, and more.
“Our focus now is on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year,” Target said in the statement.
