The US retail giant Target is removing certain items from its stores and making other changes to LGBTQ+-themed merchandise ahead of Pride month, after an intense backlash from a minority of customers included some violent confrontations with shop workers.
“Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and wellbeing while at work,” Target said in a statement on Tuesday.
“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.”
Target declined to say which items it was removing but among those that attracted the most attention were “tuck-friendly” women’s swimsuits that allow transgender women who have not had gender-affirming surgery to conceal their genitals.
Designs by Abprallen, a company based in Britain that designs and sells occult- and satanic-themed clothing and accessories aimed at LGBTQ+ consumers, have also created backlash.
The Pride merchandise, more than 2,000 items including clothing, books, music and home furnishings, has been on sale since early May.
Pride month prompts parades, celebrations and demonstrations across the world, promoting LGBTQ+ visibility and equality. It falls in June to mark the Stonewall riots for gay rights in New York in 1969 that spawned the first such march.
Target confirmed that it had moved its Pride merchandise from the front of stores to the back in some southern US locations, after confrontations and backlash involving some shoppers in those areas.
Target’s Pride month collection has been the subject of several misleading videos in recent weeks, social media users falsely claiming the retailer is selling the bathing suits in question in children’s sizes.
The moves come as the beer brand Bud Light is still grappling with backlash from customers angered by its attempt to broaden its customer base by partnering with transgender social media celebrity and culture influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Bud Light’s parent company said it will triple its US marketing spending this summer as it tries to restore sales lost as a result.
Target and other retailers including Walmart and H&M have been expanding LGBTQ+ displays to celebrate Pride month for around a decade.
The Biden administration late last year signed into law landmark legislation protecting same-sex marriages, hailing it as a step toward building a nation where “decency, dignity and love are recognized, honored and protected”.
But the issue of LGBTQ+ and especially transgender rights has been placed high up the political priority list by rightwing state legislatures and governors increasingly passing hostile legislation, often boosted by conservative media.