A conservative group opposed to
Target's transgender-inclusive policies is calling on supporters to
avoid shopping at the retail giant this holiday season.
2ndVote launched its #AnywhereButTarget
campaign after Target announced that transgender people were free to
use the bathroom or changing room that they identify with. Target
reiterated its policy in response to North Carolina's
first-in-the-nation law that prohibited transgender people from using
the bathroom of their choice in government buildings, including
schools. The law was later partially repealed.
(Related: NC
Gov. Roy Cooper signs LGBT protections order; announces agreement on
lawsuit.)
In announcing its campaign last
November, 2ndVote claimed that Target is promoting a “dangerous
social agenda.”
“Not only has Target publicly
advertised that its stores’ gender specific facilities – changing
rooms and bathrooms – are open to all comers, regardless of
biological sex, but Target has also stood by the policy, despite
falling revenues,” the group said. ”It’s time to make Target
understand that there are consequences for supporting a radical
movement that is determined to redefine marriage, gender, and,
ultimately, the 1st Amendment.”
2ndVote Executive Director Lance Wray
told The
Christian
Post that its #AnywhereButTarget campaign helped see a three
percent drop in sales over last year's Christmas season for Target
and a 43 percent drop in profits.
“In spite of their loss, Target still
hasn't changed its policy,” the group said in a recent video
promoting its boycott. “So let's keep their profits down. Shop
#AnywhereButTarget this year. And next year.”
USA Today reported earlier this
month that Target's overall sales for its latest quarter increased
1.4 percent over last year.