Executives at Target blamed “threats” for their decision to hide their displays of pride products, leading to a pro-transgender mother claiming the executives have caved to “terrorists.”
“I just walked into Target and right behind me here — where you see all these lovely swimsuits — that’s where the pride display used to be,” Rachelle Lefevre, a left-wing actress who describes herself as a pro-transgender (she/her) with a “non-binary” seven-year-old, said in an Instagram post. She continued:
And because when some people complained and threw some stuff to the ground — or I don’t know what happened — they have moved to the pride section to the back of the store. … We could do so much better than this. We’re not supposed to negotiate with terrorists. We can do so much better than this.
Target’s stock value has dropped in the last week, losing over $9 billion in market value. The crash began when Target’s customers mobilized and began to boycott the front-of-the-store, child-oriented, pro-transgender displays. After the backlash, top executives quickly began to move the displays in some stores.
Executives did not provide any evidence to support the “threats” claim but posted a press release, saying:
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.
When asked by Breitbart News, the company declined to describe or list the claimed “threats” or say if the threats were made by the company’s consumer base of suburban moms.
The Associated Press repeated the threat claim but quietly rewrote its articles when it realized there was no public evidence of threats.
The company’s “threats” claim helped the company managers justify their retreat to LGBTQ groups they wanted to flatter with the in-store political display. The company’s May 24 message added, “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.”
Lefevre’s Instagram video is part of a backlash by pro-transgender liberals who are angry at the company’s decision to hide the pride displays.
A pro-transgender politician in California — State Sen. Scott Wiener — shared a video of a man punching down signs in a Target store. But the community notes added to the tweet said the video was created in 2021.
Wiener also described calls for boycotts of Target as “fascism.”
The company’s suggestion that suburban mom customers posed “threats” generated additional protests online: