A “family” group known as the American Family Association has collected over one million signatures on a petition that wants the Target Corporation to rescind its stance on transgender individuals and their new employee and customer rights to use any Target restroom in which they are gender comfortable.
The American Family Association is based in Tupelo, Mississippi and is a fundamentalist Christian organization that stands against same sex marriage, abortion and other things they find objectionable. Apparently, the organization has been sending men into the women’s restrooms at Target stores to cause chaos and drive customer traffic down at the stores.
In a statement, Target said that, “We believe that everyone – every team member, every guest and every community deserves to be protected from discrimination and treated equally…”
The American Family Association has already admitted that it is sending men into women’s restrooms at Target stores and that they are just walking right in without any questions being asked. Spokeswoman Sandy Rios said that, “The chief concern, even more than just, I think, trauma, certainly for little girls of having men dressed like women coming in their bathrooms; the chief concern of the American Family Association is the predators who will take advantage.”
The American Family Association thinks, instead, that Target should be creating gender identity free restrooms for anyone to use. An anonymous Target employee said that he was worried that this stance by the company will, in the long run, start costing people jobs and he isn’t convinced that the company has their, or their families, best interests in mind.
Many marketing professionals from around the country believe that Target will not be hurt by any boycotts or actions by such organizations. They believe that Target’s customer base is loyal and will still shop at their stores and outlets. Social media sites, however, especially YouTube, has seen a storm of posted videos where men are simply walking into the women’s restrooms at Target stores.
PHOTO SOURCES: Reuters