This has been the most depressing kick off to Pride Season that I can recall in recent memory. Last week news broke that Target was moving its Pride merch from prominent display in stores and essentially hiding it in the back due to fears for their “team members’ sense of safety and wellbeing while at work.” The instigators of these concerns are fragile right wingers who are wounded by the very sight of colorful merchandise that no one is forcing them to buy. Projection, thy name is Snowflake. Now Kohl’s is the latest to face the hate campaign, but unlike Target they’re standing by their LGBTQIA+ merch:
Kohl’s is one of the latest retailers to face backlash for its Pride Month collection.
People have taken to Twitter to call out the retailer for selling LGBTQIA+ Pride Month clothes and products, including for children, with some calling for consumers to boycott the store entirely.
According to its website, Kohl’s is “committed to amplifying and affirming the voices of the LGBTQIA+ community, celebrating the joy that comes from living authentically and unapologetically not just this month, but all year long.” The Kohl’s Pride collection includes products from gender neutral and inclusive fashion brands like Phluid and TomboyX.
The backlash to Kohl’s comes amid a string of similar reactions as retailers across the U.S. introduce collections for 2023 Pride Month, which begins June 1. Just last week, Target said it altered its Pride 2023 collection displays and availability following backlash.
“Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work,” Target said in a statement to AP News. “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 added that customers in some stores had knocked down Pride 2023 displays, directing anger at employees and posting threatening videos on social media while in-store.
According to The New York Post, Target had lost $10 billion in market valuation over 10 days as of Sunday amid the Pride Collection controversy, though it is not clear if the backlash alone was entirely responsible for the plunge.
I have very low reserves of faith left, so I’ll just cut to the pragmatics here and say the only thing that will ultimately sway these companies is profit. Shop the hell out of all the Pride lines, in store if possible and if not then online. Professional bigot Matt Walsh has been bragging about making “‘pride’ toxic for brands,” so strike back by making pride profitable instead. Happy First Day of Pride Month.
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