Hampton Roads and Virginia leaders in the LGBTQ+ community denounced decisions by Target to remove some items from its annual Pride collection and move displays to the back of the stores in some locations.
“I think they are caving to the people who are a small minority but the loudest in the room,” said Rachel Anderson, president of the board of directors for Hampton Roads Business Outreach (HRBOR), the area’s LGBTQ+ chamber of commerce.
Target made the changes to its annual Pride collection after criticism from anti-LGBTQ groups, who knocked over displays and expressed outrage over bathing suits made for trans women, according to The Associated Press. The retailer said it has sold products during Pride Month in June for more than a decade.
Target said in a May 24 statement it was removing items at the center of the controversy, though it did not name which items. In an Instagram post, designer Erik Carnell said his items had been fully removed from Target stores and its website.
Anderson, a Chesapeake attorney, said the decision limited shoppers who could only access the items in stores. She noted that the vast majority of Americans supported LGBTQ equality, referencing a recent GLAAD survey where 84% of non-LGBTQ respondents said they supported equal rights for the community.
“The minority should not dictate what happens in this world,” Anderson said.
But as a business owner, Anderson said she realized the tough position Target was in. Several states with Targets allow gun owners to open carry weapons, which could lead to intimidation of employees. She understood the need to maintain the safety of workers and customers.
De Sube is a founding member of the Transgender Assistance Program of Virginia, which helps transgender Virginians with housing costs and other bills. She remembers years ago when Hampton Roads Pride celebrations were a small community affair, and large corporations ignored the LGBTQ+ community.
Now, those same companies are clamoring for the community’s business.
“But when things get a little tough, they bow out,” Sube said. “They chicken out. We want our businesses to support us.”
The changes to the displays aren’t consistent between Target locations, either, Sube said. In Norfolk, the Military Circle Target’s Pride display was still near the front entrance as of Thursday afternoon. Pride merchandise was also still up front at the Hampton Target on Friday morning.
One state lawmaker said the displayed merchandise shrank at two Hampton Roads stores at least. Kelly Convirs-Fowler, who came out as bisexual last year, said she purchased several items from the Pride collection before the company’s announcement. When she heard about plans to remove items, she visited the Targets on Independence Boulevard in Virginia Beach and Greenbrier Parkway in Chesapeake and said the amount of items in stock was significantly smaller than before.
“It would be a shame for Target to lose business because a community once embraced is being bullied back into the closet,” Convirs-Fowler said in a text message.
Lawren Burroughs is a transgender woman who practices law in Virginia Beach and serves on the National Trans Bar Association board of directors. When she was transitioning around 2016, she remembers Target coming under attack for allowing customers and employees to use bathrooms that corresponded to their gender identity.
At the time, she said the stance made her feel safe and welcome in the stores. But she said Target’s recent actions are a step back in its support for the LGBTQ+ community. She found it troubling that Target caved to the threats from anti-LGBTQ+ groups.
“The timing is horrible, and it makes it feel like a less friendly place,” Burroughs said.
Burroughs said she hoped the world would reach a place where LGBTQ+ items were so ordinary that they could be displayed on shelves all year, rather than just Pride month, without controversy.
Equality Virginia, a statewide advocacy agency for the LGBTQ+ community, was one of more than 100 organizations that signed a letter to Target condemning the company’s actions and asking it to reject anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric.
For decades, companies have marked Pride month with special campaigns in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community, Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman said in a news release.
“Pride is about visibility, and the actions that companies such as Target are taking are antithetical to that very goal,” Rahaman said.
Rahaman said it was more important than ever for companies to stand with the community, given the upswing in anti-LGBTQ+ legislation that has exploded in recent months. According to AP reporting, nearly 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures around the country this year, and at least 18 states have passed laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
In Virginia, a Democrat-controlled state senate has prevented those laws from passing. Although if a future election changes that, anti-LGBTQ+ legislation could pass in this state as well, Sube said. That’s why it’s important for her nonprofit group to be visible out in the community standing up against anti-transgender laws.
Trevor Metcalfe, 757-222-5345, [email protected]
