[ [link removed] ]Sign the petition to tell Target: Stop caving to bigots, homophobes,
and transphobes and reinstate your LGBTQ+ Pride merch NOW!
Dear MoveOn member,
Just one week before Pride Month was set to begin, Target caved to an
orchestrated attack by anti-LGBTQ+ bigots and pulled items from their 2023
Pride merch collection—which featured items produced by small businesses
owned by queer and trans creators, designers, and artists—off their
shelves.^1 It is completely unacceptable for Target to abandon our
communities to appease right-wing extremists.
[ [link removed] ]Will you rise in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and sign the
petition to demand that Target do the right thing by reinstating their
LGBTQ+ Pride merch NOW?
Right-wing extremists have said themselves that their goal is to make
Pride toxic for companies.^2 That they want to eradicate LGBTQ+ people
from public life.^3 We won't let them. We are here, and we aren't going
anywhere.
Sadly, these attacks on the LGBTQ+ community are not new. Just this year
alone, across the U.S., Republicans have introduced a RECORD-BREAKING 520
violent, abusive, and hateful anti-LGBTQ+ bills in state legislatures,
many of which have already passed.^4 Our community is under attack every
single day. LGBTQ+ people, especially trans and nonbinary people, have
faced rising threats and acts of violence due to the constant
dehumanization at the hands of Republican legislators across the
country.^5
Target is enabling these bigots because, the truth is, you cannot appease
homophobes and transphobes. So by removing Pride merch from their stores,
Target is sending a very clear and harmful message to our community that
they will abandon our communities and that our identities should be hidden
when confronted by bigotry. And the decision by Target's executives to
remove Pride merch is only going to embolden right-wing extremists.
[ [link removed] ]Image of a persn holding up "protect queer youth" and a text box that
says "Target: Reinstate your LGBTQ+ merch"
[ [link removed] ]Add your name to the petition: Target must reverse their anti-LGBTQ+
decision and reinstate Pride merch in their stores NOW!
If Target really cares about the LGBTQ+ community, they will stop caving
to anti-LGBTQ+ bigots, reinstate the Pride merch to support our
communities and queer, trans, and nonbinary creators, and do more to
support our community by rising up against anti-LGBTQ+ bills passing
across the country.
[5]Sign the petition
This year, Target's Pride collection featured, uplifted, and amplified
LGBTQ+ small businesses, creators, artists, and designers, many of whom
were so excited that their work and products would be featured by a
household name like Target. But the second that anti-LGBTQ+ bigots pushed
back, Target caved and abandoned these creators and our communities.
Corporations like Target participate in "rainbow capitalism" to sell their
products to the LGBTQ+ community but then they abandon our communities the
minute they are faced with backlash from right-wing extremists. It's
unacceptable.
[ [link removed] ]Sign now: Target must reverse their decision to remove Pride merch from
their stores NOW.
Target removing pride gear further puts their LGBTQ+ employees and
customers at risk of harassment and danger by drawing a line of who is
protected, who is supported, and who is listened to that further
marginalizes queer communities.
We cannot and will not allow bigots, homophobes, and transphobes to
viciously erase LGBTQ+ people from this country.
We all have to be in this together, in solidarity with all LGBTQ+
folks—especially Black, brown, and Indigenous LGBTQ+ people. The LGBTQ+
community deserves the right to feel safe and supported everywhere.
Target has a responsibility to do what is right, starting with reinstating
their Pride merch NOW.
[ [link removed] ]Click here to add your name to this petition, and then pass it along to
3 friends to spread the word.
Thanks!
–Jensine, Nakia, Alexis, Rahna, and the rest of the team
Sources:
1. "Conservatives are making Pride merch 'toxic.' Their real goal is much
worse," MSNBC, May 27, 2023
[link removed]
2. "Target quietly moves Pride merchandise in some stores as conservative
activists declare victory," NBC News, May 24, 2023
[link removed]
3. "CPAC Speaker Michael Knowles Says 'Transgenderism Must Be
Eradicated,'" Them, March 3, 2023
[link removed]
4. "Weekly Roundup of Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation Advancing In States Across
the Country," Human Rights Campaign, May 9, 2023
[link removed]
5. "Experts warn against canceling Pride campaigns after extremists
threaten Target," ABC News, May 30, 2023
[link removed]
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