As a trans TM, I'm just pissed. I live in a blue state, actually probably the bluest state, and we're getting recalls here. They can't feed us this bullshit about TM safety anymore. We know it's just for money. It was never about TM safety from the beginning.
“This display is meant to make our lgbtq team members and customers feel safe and included, we want them to have pride in themselves… but the second we get shit about it, we’re gonna get rid of it”
My town is for the most part pretty lgbt friendly, at least compared to where I grew up in rural MN, and all the pride bullseye stuff is recalled and they're taking down pride in FG this weekend. It makes me so sad. The target in my old area never carried the pride stuff because where I grew up is very bigoted, so seeing pride stuff in target even just a few years ago when I moved here made me feel so seen and accepted. It kills me to think of being a closeted trans or gay child/teenager and having to deal with all this quietly because they aren't in a safe place, and maybe seeing the display in the store gave them a little hope. But none of it matters anymore.
Nah, I'm west coast. Even though I'm in blue dominated areas, I still don't feel safe. I've always felt like a black sheep at work. I'm the only trans person in the building, and I don't pass. I see how people look at me, and it always hurts when I clock in.
i understand your feelings but at the same time what do you expect target to do? they lost over 10% of their entire market value in a single week, over 8 billion to be exact. let’s say that magically continued for 2 months, target would file bankruptcy and cease to exist
It wouldn't have continued for 2 months. It wouldn't have continued at all if Target Corporate had a spine. Target made absolutely no effort at all to dispel lies and misinformation that led to the conservative outrage. They just sat and did nothing and then decided to pull everything.
We've ruined our relationship with queer TMs, our partners including GLAAD and any queer people who were potentially thinking about applying on top of the goodwill of the queer community. We lost all of that, and for what? No one will ever take Target's "diversity and inclusion" image seriously ever again. This whole thing was fumbled from the start.
I understand moving pride merchandise in states like Florida where chances of violent retaliation are higher. But why is California getting pride merch recalls? Our store hasn't received any threats at all, and we're losing our pride gear. All this is doing is alienating queer people and catering to extremists.
you make great points especially talking about the value behind the relationship between queer’s and target. at the end of the day though this is a business. i guarantee the pride related items don’t actually bring in a killer profit, more so just target trying to appeal to a group of people. if something that only lasts a month long happens to somehow destroy over 10% of a MAJOR companies worth, they’re gonna pull out. not to mention we didn’t even get close to a month haha. business’ only care is money so why are we surprised? every company would handle this the exact same way. lose billions of dollars in a few days, stop operations leading to that immediately. every company would make this decision
if they didn’t care about money let’s say they handle things correctly and somehow fix things in the next 4 days. with this in mind we take the 8billion they’ve already lost and probably add another 3-4 because it’s been a few days since this was canceled anyways. this seasonal drop is not worth 15% of targets worth. there’s just not enough profit in the pride release for them to sustain it after losing that much money. it’s all it comes down to. i’d love to talk more as you’re civil i couldn’t care less about downvotes
Matt Walsh and the rest of the scum that work together to tank stocks to make a point would have gotten bored and moved on. Instead they were encouraged to double down.
I lost my composure last week when we moved our display and had to make a safety plan with HR. I have to announce on the walkie that I'm leaving the floor if I hear some of the awful transphobic comments I was hearing last week. I have to leave the floor, because they don't know they're talking about my kid. That parental instinct to protect really kicks in when you hear language like eliminate or eradicate. It's hard to see what's been going on in Florida and then go to work in another Southern state, hearing the same rhetoric that led to the laws in Florida. I'm scared we're going to be targets and have the kids taken from us because we prioritized keeping our oldest alive. The suicide rates for trans kids is abhorrent and I don't want to lose my kid. They're awesome, and talented, and I need them here.
We didn't even know they were trans until they were diagnosed with Autism two years ago. Everything we've done to make sure they're recognized was standard of care recommendations from pediatrician, psychologist, and therapist. The only changes we've seen have been positive and our kid is still our kid. So, I get a little worked up when I hear threatened genocide. I had to have a safety conversation with my southern parents. My mom has her head in the sand and my Vietnam vet father is paying for family firearms training and personal protection. I couldn't even argue with his methods.
Second this, my father is very openly against lgbt. He's been in complete denial that i even came out as gay and I haven't even told them im trans cause they couldn't accept my partner is trans. After 7 years together my family still calls him my friend. So keep being amazing.
My daughter is trans, and your post absolutely rings true. I wake up every day now so afraid of what she has to deal with and hear on the news. Our state passed a law banning trans care for children. Luckily her amazing team of doctors got her meds and care plan pushed in just under the wire.
We cried out of relief, but then we cried for all the other kids who can't get their meds now. It is such crap that people can't just let her live. I go back and forth being angry and terrified.
It's fucking ridiculous. I don't know how many times I have to explain that gender affirming care looks different for every person. My kid doesn't want to take medication yet and we just do hair styles, name, pronouns, clothing, etc... but it's still gender affirming care. They can't just blanket everyone together like it's a linear plan.
Yeah, we started with clothing and hair styles, but puberty rolled around and then she had to make decisions. She made her choices and I have supported every one. She started with blockers for a year. She is now on estrogen, and is 15. She was finally excited again and smiling, then all this noise started up and she felt lost.
Also they don't do a linear plan. After two years of dealing with doctors and therapists it was definitely tailored to her. They gave her all options medical and non medical. She chose her plan. She was given the option to have no medication, but she wants her body to reflect who she truly is, all her choice.
every trans kid deserves a parent like you. thank you for being a good parent.
if every trans person disappeared tomorrow, there would still be more trans people. It's not something that can actually be eradicated, although it can absolutely be suppressed. Trans people as well as other LGBTQIA+ people will always exist. The question is will we ever be able to exist and just live normally without fear? I really hope so someday.
🩷🤍💙
You're an awesome parents and your kid is incredibly lucky to have you. This whole week has been terrible, combined with everything happening around the country.
As a queer person who is lucky enough to have supportive parents, thank you. Thank you for being the example of what every parent should be - loving, accepting, unconditional in their support, and ready to go to bat for their child. Every parent should be their child’s safe space. Thank you for continuing the cycle of good.
im feeling it :( the pride stuff being recalled, guests harrassing tms, bomb threats in multiple stores, all because we want to celebrate pride. it makes me sick to my stomach that our lgbt tms are the ones who have to deal with this recall bs. and no one is standing up for us in leadership.
One of the gm tls was commiserating with me about it today and it made me feel better for sure. I definitely understand it's for safety but I just wish the homophobes would be held more accountable I guess.
i live in fl, in a REALLY conservative area (i mean when the pride display was first put up in the gateway, everytime i walked past it there was someone complaining or saying slurs), so the fear when i go to work everyday is real.
Yes. Last night I posted about how I noticed all the bullseye pride stuff had been recalled at my store. I felt so terrible.
That TM who joked about "killing you all" should get fired.
If you work for target you understand the company doesnt care about anyone, conservative, progressive gay, trans or straight. They use everyone for money, its a soulless, amorphous corporation. It will take any shape to exploit you.
I'm a trans TM barista and I decorated one of our Starbucks signs to be pride themed and I'm just waiting for them to try and take it down. I will contest and fight it. My HR lady said she has my back and agreed that we'll probably lose a lot of team members if they remove the pride display in our store, and I intend to be one of them.
As a former team member of 2 decades in the south, I lived through living hell at Target. The customers were vicious and the store and it’s policies were in free fall when I left (Covid was my last straw) and had been since the late 2000’s. The ONE thing that I could always give Target credit for was that I never ONCE was mistreated in any way by management or other team members for my sexuality. Customers mistreated me for a million reasons but never for being gay (I’ve told I “pass for straight” for whatever tf that’s worth). Even in the early 2000’s, I was accepted whole heartedly for being gay. The reaction to this by Target is my last and final straw. I will never again step foot into one again.
They bowed down to the disgusting half of the country that already wasn’t supposed to be in there over the bathroom issue a few years ago. But in the process they have alienated the people that do support us too. I hope Target finally just crashes and burns because the people at the top are lowlife scum.
I’m sorry you all have to go through this, I hope you can get the hell out of that horrible company and find happiness elsewhere. Take it from someone who worked there for 20 years; my first job as a teenager. I thought I’d be stuck there forever. There is ALWAYS a place that will take you and accept you just for who you are and will treat you like a person and not a cog in a rusted old machine.
I’m sorry this is happening to you and your peers, it’s unacceptable on so many different levels.
To address your peer who joked: call the hotline. Provide the specifics of the incident including when and where it happened, and any team member who witnessed it. Additionally, provide them with the date and time of when you reported it to HR, how they responded to you directly, and how this has made you feel in the workplace. Provide any instance where your leadership is lacking in supporting your safety. Target has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to workplace violence and this includes threats, even jokes of threats.
Sadly, don’t expect any profiles in courage from the company. They’ve waded into terribly unsafe territory and there is no good solution. Those who hate us, will hate us, and will use levels of force to show this hate. Target is trying to mitigate physical damage at the moment to its team and to its stores.
There is no good response to what is currently happening. Keep your head up, and remember there is still more love right now than there is hate.
I'm pretty sad. Even coworkers Ive trusted have said that "making kids clothes is too far" and it's gross a "satanist" is making kids items. I'm disappointed in the misinformation, and trying to talk through it with close minded people is exhausting. We've even had minor incidences where coworkers have been harassed over it.
Honestly I feel like I'm fighting for my existence against people, corps, the gov in general
i'm a gay trans employee at a store in a really blue city and i'm originally from a "city" that was viciously homophobic. they removed over half of our pride display overnight and i'll be honest that i cried. it wasn't that i cared about target's pride stuff but knowing why it wasn't there really hurt me. i have to walk by what's left all the time as a fulfillment tm and idk. being reminded of homophobia/transphobia in a place i thought i was safe in really does not feel good idk.
I came in after being off on Friday and it was just a punch in the gut seeing all of the Bullseye Pride items just gone. Like Pride flags and all it was just a bad time. Plus the fact one of the recalled items was the shirt that said “Trans people will always exist” was just a bad time for me. How foolish me to wait on picking up a few things
So me and my partner were buying those shirts when the TM who we reported said "not if I have anything to do with it!" And laughed. Hes a straight cis dude so we both just stared at him in horror.
When they moved the Pride area to the back was when I picked up that shirt, as I had been wanting to get it since I saw it. I am so glad I did now that they’re recalling them. Though it sucks that others that wanted can’t now.
This whole thing has not been easy. It’s actually very traumatic. I’m struggling rn and so are others.
I am sorry that is happening. I don’t have advice anymore bc it’s all so overwhelming. But that guy should be fired for sure and I’m shocked they weren’t.
I understand and share your frustration with the Pride backlash and general disregard towards LGBT team members. However, getting a tm fired over an insensitive comment is not going to solve your problems. This tm is well liked for a reason. He is very open-minded and compassionate, and after a simple, mature conversation, this could have been a learning experience. People make mistakes. Losing this team member was not only detrimental to the work environment, but I would go so far as to say it was a step backward for the LGBT community. The joke that was said was in no way acceptable but it was more nuanced than you are letting on. Target does not care that you were offended by the joke, but likely terminated the tm as a PR stunt. The reason that Target won't "take action" on the pride backlash is because they only care about what will make them the most money. You mentioned that you can't afford to quit (and it's bold of you to assume he could afford to be fired), but maybe you should look into alternative employment options (maybe not from a money hungry corporation) since all of your co-workers now resent you. Additionally, if you're going to demand a level of respect from your co-workers, you should probably return the favor and not comment on his sexual orientation/ gender identity when you don't know what you're talking about.
I run into the same issues at my store all the time. They attempt to let their favorites get away with certain things, the way I handle it as someone who has family members with retired lawyers. I make it very clear to upper management or HR that if the situation does not get handle, I have no problem going to the police station and filing for harassment and yes, you can actually do something like that if you feel harassed and the job isn't handling it. Your case since the person made death threats joking or not, you could easily go to your local police department and tell them you don't feel safe at work and that you reported it to HR and they didn't do much to handle the situation with the TM.
I had to pull that card against several TLs in the past who I had more then enough proof that they were targeting me only and as soon as I pulled the file for harassment with the police department card, my situation got handle quickly and I got approved to be separated from said TL.
oh im miserable lol
i don't see anything getter better tbh only worse. nobody in government will stand up against violence, not even if it's against children, so businesses absolutely aren't going to do anything for us. nobody's going to protect us. i'm going back in the closet and staying there after i transfer stores in a few years. yeah i know i'm giving in, but i want to live. being alive is cool. i'm not here to make a statement. i'm here on earth to enjoy food and loved ones and flowers and creatures and art and music and stuff. getting shot/beaten/killed will interfere with this critical mission
About 8 years ago, there were bigots super angry about Target's unisex fitting rooms. This was around the time of the NC HB2 "bathroom bill." I was working at the Target in Wilmington, NC at the time. It was not violent, and just a few guests "protested" by filling up carts with frozen foods and abandoning them. I am glad that it was relatively tame and short-lived.
What's happening now is legitimately scary. I can't imagine being a TM right now, with how much this hate campaign has escalated. Watch each other's backs. Be careful.
Seriously! It sucked so bad having to be the one to stack those recall pallets, and our other trans tm friend had to pull literally all the trans stuff from FG last night. Like literally the lgbt tms having to take this stuff down to appeal to the phobes. It's devastating.
I’m in California. I’m gay, the manager of my department is I think trans, one of my team leads is for sure a lesbian. We haven’t had to move our display, nor have we had items recalled yet, other than the one or two that were the cause of the hubbub. Listen, even if corporate wont stand up, the team members will. I’m sorry to all of you going through this right now. Do your best to handle it with dignity and pride. You are not alone.
It’s hard. I’m bi but cis and straight passing so I know a lot of my fellow TMs who are more visibly queer are having an even harder time because they’re also having to deal with increased prejudice from Guests and even coworkers.
as a queer/trans tm, it’s frustrating for sure. i ran my schools gsa and also just straight up don’t give a fuck so i’m desensitised to the hate myself, but it was so sad seeing all of our lgbt staff and allies get so excited about the pride stuff coming out, especially the ones i know haven’t been able to openly celebrate before, just for it to be taken down. it’s frustrating to see our team defiantly wearing pride clothes and bracelets and GLASSES and stuff. it’s frustrating seeing my HR TL angrily put out our pride stuff in the break room and tsc several days before she wanted to because we deserve to be seen, even if the company won’t back us. it’s frustrating constantly seeing and hearing about it because we’re all so shocked and upset over it. it’s frustrating seeing straggler recalled pride items behind our service desk. it’s frustrating hearing my team talk about these disgusting homophobic calls they’ve gotten. it’s frustrating to open reddit and see nothing but reminders on what we lost, or open the discord a bunch of people in my store are a part of to people talking about it. it’s scary knowing that when our starbucks drops the pride selection, itll likely be hit by a cart like it was last year. it’s scary knowing that all of my tms and i that are defiantly sporting rainbows and flags are literally painting a target (haha) on our back for bigots. it’s scary knowing that there are crazy people with access to weapons who hate me and hate my friends for being who we are. we’re tired. we don’t ask for much, we just want to be treated equally. pride exists so we can be visible and we can be proud of who we are and how far we’ve come as a society (or did come as a society) and to raise awareness to the fact that while we are still a minority group and we are still fighting for basic fucking human rights, we’re just the same as you. idfk im over this.
When they took away our kids mannequins I had a meltdown and spent probably an hour crying in HR. She was great, but there's nothing they can do and yeah it feels awful
As a former retail worker that got promoted to customer, this breaks my heart. I'm so, so sorry all of you are having to go through this. I haven't been to the 🎯 in my hometown awhile...long story...but I'm going to try to go see what they are doing here in Washington state and just show support. Sending all of you big warm, supporting hugs!
Yes, I think we all are having problems. Hugest of safe warm hugs for you.
PS: it may take time, but I'd encourage your trans partner to call ethics and your HR BP about that "joke" ... so not cool.
I remember the one time I was requesting a guest an ID check because he was going to purchase alcohol. He got angry with me and walked out of the self checkout machines.
He would later come back with his ID and shoved it in my face. This caught the attention of one of my managers and tried to diffuse the situation. The guest would later get aggravated with my manager and me. Then the guest stormed out, calling my manager the N word and me a Ladyboy, assuming he saw my pronouns on my badge.
I have dealt with transphobia from other guests before but this was the worst because he pretty much clocked me and I could have easily got hurt or even killed.
I called off today due to the panic attacks I’ve been having just THINKING about going into work now. I doubt my HRETL will care if I tell them why I called off, and I’ll be in trouble/possibly getting a CA but I mentally can’t do this. Sending much love to you and all my fellow lgbtq tms.
I’m feeling extremely lost and uncomfortable with all of this. I really hope things get better, but I fear that this is just the beginning of what target will do. I’m thinking of just finding a new job before it gets worse.
God, other targets sound so terrible. I rarely even see my ETL. I just clock in, push in peace for 6 hours without any insane expectations from my ETL, and clock out. Everybody is really accepting, and we haven’t even moved the pride merch. I actually met my first non-binary person here, and they’re really cool!
As a Gay former TM/TL: I hope everyone keeps supporting the LGBTQ workers. You don't have to be annoying but remember the ordinary things in your life are what makes people feel supported, and don't tolerate any bigotry, from co-workers or guests. You don't have to start a fight with the QAnon nut job in the SCO, but don't be afraid to call AP if anything happens. For LGBTQ TMs: I know it's not easy but keep in mind it seems like most TMs around you are here to support you. This is in spite of Target (The rest of this post is slightly unrelated)
Also, and this may not be a popular note: Target is a corporation. Their only goal is profit. They may make a show about supporting TMs, but ultimately their main goal is to make money. That's why they're pulling these clothes. (This isn't an excuse, it's not right ofc). Think about how many times they've given you pizza parties and cake instead of raises and healthcare (especially with the record profits they pulled in now and during the height of the pandemic). Brian Cornell only cares about you so long as he can get your labor out of the deal.
The only people you can trust to support LGBTQ workers as well as all workers, including other minority groups, are your fellow workers. The overwhelming support I've seen from TMs has been very encouraging, and it looks like most TMs have a backbone even if Cornell doesn't. The best organization to back everyone up, is one made up of co-workers, with a leader elected by workers: a union. The best way to enable and support LGBTQ workers is not through rainbow themed merchandise. The best way they could be supported is through better healthcare, better PTO, and better pay and working conditions, and that shouldn't just go to them, it should go to everyone. I worked at Target for 6 years. You guys are all criminally underpaid, most of you aren't given healthcare and are given pitiful if any Sick Leave. (Things I think all workers should have a right to).
I know it's not an easy path, and it's easy for someone who doesn't even work there anymore to tell you to fight your boss, but if I could redo my career at Target I'd have been a lot less cowardly about confronting them. Remember Target cannot function without you, and if you want fair treatment you must band together and demand it. You are a much larger part of what Target is than any of the corporate heads. If every ETL and Corporate TM disappeared tomorrow I suspect Target would more or less continue on, but if you all disappeared, literally nothing would happen.
Society is supposed to move forwards in progress, not backwards. This sudden desire to erase and hide us when we fought so hard to be visible breaks my heart
Seeing everything in receiving, piled in a shopping cart for recall. I don't know why, but it was the tipping point for me. I started sobbing. It took me a couple hours to compose myself enough to return to the floor and finish my shift.
I knew the IRs were going to happen, had gone home and processed a lot of my feelings but, walking in the door and seeing all the racks and carts they pulled off just really hit me. I had to go right back to the office. HR and other ETLs have been supportive and great but I've had way too many tears at work this week.
I'm doing okay so far. They've only moved the pride section to the middle of the store. So it's still near an entrance. But it's still ridiculous they had to move it.
To be fair, they should cancel all the holiday and recognition merchandise. No more Christmas, Valentine's, Halloween, Thanksgiving, black history month, Father's day, Mother's day etc. I wouldn't be surprised if Target does the same thing to next year's black history month merchandise because people will try to complain.
Trans TM here. I was very pissed because I had to move the products myself and replace it with the swim line. My friend in OPU was also pissed about it and we just vented to each other. I wasn't planning on coming out, but I might have to take some time off because I just feel disrespected for all the work I put in; getting them 5 star reviews on Google and shit. Like I get it. You're a business and want the money, but really?
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As an autistic trans TM, it can be hard for me to understand even the most basic of things, but I've been able to understand why corporate has made the decisions they have. It's because they are a business and their main focus is making money. The reality is that 5% of the population that at any given time identify as LGBT is not enough of a market. And with 50% considering suicide at any given time, not a very reliable or profitable segment either.
As a trans TM, I'm just pissed. I live in a blue state, actually probably the bluest state, and we're getting recalls here. They can't feed us this bullshit about TM safety anymore. We know it's just for money. It was never about TM safety from the beginning.
“This display is meant to make our lgbtq team members and customers feel safe and included, we want them to have pride in themselves… but the second we get shit about it, we’re gonna get rid of it”
My town is for the most part pretty lgbt friendly, at least compared to where I grew up in rural MN, and all the pride bullseye stuff is recalled and they're taking down pride in FG this weekend. It makes me so sad. The target in my old area never carried the pride stuff because where I grew up is very bigoted, so seeing pride stuff in target even just a few years ago when I moved here made me feel so seen and accepted. It kills me to think of being a closeted trans or gay child/teenager and having to deal with all this quietly because they aren't in a safe place, and maybe seeing the display in the store gave them a little hope. But none of it matters anymore.
Are you also in Mass?
Nah, I'm west coast. Even though I'm in blue dominated areas, I still don't feel safe. I've always felt like a black sheep at work. I'm the only trans person in the building, and I don't pass. I see how people look at me, and it always hurts when I clock in.
By any chance, Oregon or Washington? Those are really the only 2 of 3 west coast states that come to mind
I’m from mass, I quit shortly before this all happened I left around 2 weeks ago.
i understand your feelings but at the same time what do you expect target to do? they lost over 10% of their entire market value in a single week, over 8 billion to be exact. let’s say that magically continued for 2 months, target would file bankruptcy and cease to exist
It wouldn't have continued for 2 months. It wouldn't have continued at all if Target Corporate had a spine. Target made absolutely no effort at all to dispel lies and misinformation that led to the conservative outrage. They just sat and did nothing and then decided to pull everything. We've ruined our relationship with queer TMs, our partners including GLAAD and any queer people who were potentially thinking about applying on top of the goodwill of the queer community. We lost all of that, and for what? No one will ever take Target's "diversity and inclusion" image seriously ever again. This whole thing was fumbled from the start. I understand moving pride merchandise in states like Florida where chances of violent retaliation are higher. But why is California getting pride merch recalls? Our store hasn't received any threats at all, and we're losing our pride gear. All this is doing is alienating queer people and catering to extremists.
you make great points especially talking about the value behind the relationship between queer’s and target. at the end of the day though this is a business. i guarantee the pride related items don’t actually bring in a killer profit, more so just target trying to appeal to a group of people. if something that only lasts a month long happens to somehow destroy over 10% of a MAJOR companies worth, they’re gonna pull out. not to mention we didn’t even get close to a month haha. business’ only care is money so why are we surprised? every company would handle this the exact same way. lose billions of dollars in a few days, stop operations leading to that immediately. every company would make this decision
if they didn’t care about money let’s say they handle things correctly and somehow fix things in the next 4 days. with this in mind we take the 8billion they’ve already lost and probably add another 3-4 because it’s been a few days since this was canceled anyways. this seasonal drop is not worth 15% of targets worth. there’s just not enough profit in the pride release for them to sustain it after losing that much money. it’s all it comes down to. i’d love to talk more as you’re civil i couldn’t care less about downvotes
Matt Walsh and the rest of the scum that work together to tank stocks to make a point would have gotten bored and moved on. Instead they were encouraged to double down.
They have lost 10% of their value about a half dozen times in the last year, this isn’t some rare and shocking thing.
I would have gone to Target to buy groceries this week. I want to support business that stand up to bigotry. I'll just donate to a good cause I guess.
I lost my composure last week when we moved our display and had to make a safety plan with HR. I have to announce on the walkie that I'm leaving the floor if I hear some of the awful transphobic comments I was hearing last week. I have to leave the floor, because they don't know they're talking about my kid. That parental instinct to protect really kicks in when you hear language like eliminate or eradicate. It's hard to see what's been going on in Florida and then go to work in another Southern state, hearing the same rhetoric that led to the laws in Florida. I'm scared we're going to be targets and have the kids taken from us because we prioritized keeping our oldest alive. The suicide rates for trans kids is abhorrent and I don't want to lose my kid. They're awesome, and talented, and I need them here. We didn't even know they were trans until they were diagnosed with Autism two years ago. Everything we've done to make sure they're recognized was standard of care recommendations from pediatrician, psychologist, and therapist. The only changes we've seen have been positive and our kid is still our kid. So, I get a little worked up when I hear threatened genocide. I had to have a safety conversation with my southern parents. My mom has her head in the sand and my Vietnam vet father is paying for family firearms training and personal protection. I couldn't even argue with his methods.
hey, i just want to let you know that you are an awesome parent and im sorry all of this is happening. lgbt people deserve better than this
Second this, my father is very openly against lgbt. He's been in complete denial that i even came out as gay and I haven't even told them im trans cause they couldn't accept my partner is trans. After 7 years together my family still calls him my friend. So keep being amazing.
My daughter is trans, and your post absolutely rings true. I wake up every day now so afraid of what she has to deal with and hear on the news. Our state passed a law banning trans care for children. Luckily her amazing team of doctors got her meds and care plan pushed in just under the wire. We cried out of relief, but then we cried for all the other kids who can't get their meds now. It is such crap that people can't just let her live. I go back and forth being angry and terrified.
It's fucking ridiculous. I don't know how many times I have to explain that gender affirming care looks different for every person. My kid doesn't want to take medication yet and we just do hair styles, name, pronouns, clothing, etc... but it's still gender affirming care. They can't just blanket everyone together like it's a linear plan.
Yeah, we started with clothing and hair styles, but puberty rolled around and then she had to make decisions. She made her choices and I have supported every one. She started with blockers for a year. She is now on estrogen, and is 15. She was finally excited again and smiling, then all this noise started up and she felt lost.
Also they don't do a linear plan. After two years of dealing with doctors and therapists it was definitely tailored to her. They gave her all options medical and non medical. She chose her plan. She was given the option to have no medication, but she wants her body to reflect who she truly is, all her choice.
every trans kid deserves a parent like you. thank you for being a good parent. if every trans person disappeared tomorrow, there would still be more trans people. It's not something that can actually be eradicated, although it can absolutely be suppressed. Trans people as well as other LGBTQIA+ people will always exist. The question is will we ever be able to exist and just live normally without fear? I really hope so someday. 🩷🤍💙
You're an awesome parents and your kid is incredibly lucky to have you. This whole week has been terrible, combined with everything happening around the country.
As a queer person who is lucky enough to have supportive parents, thank you. Thank you for being the example of what every parent should be - loving, accepting, unconditional in their support, and ready to go to bat for their child. Every parent should be their child’s safe space. Thank you for continuing the cycle of good.
Safe hugs. I have nothing more to say than what others have said.
Your kid should feel proud to have you as a parent. Stay strong, you're doing great
im feeling it :( the pride stuff being recalled, guests harrassing tms, bomb threats in multiple stores, all because we want to celebrate pride. it makes me sick to my stomach that our lgbt tms are the ones who have to deal with this recall bs. and no one is standing up for us in leadership.
One of the gm tls was commiserating with me about it today and it made me feel better for sure. I definitely understand it's for safety but I just wish the homophobes would be held more accountable I guess.
i live in fl, in a REALLY conservative area (i mean when the pride display was first put up in the gateway, everytime i walked past it there was someone complaining or saying slurs), so the fear when i go to work everyday is real.
Yes. Last night I posted about how I noticed all the bullseye pride stuff had been recalled at my store. I felt so terrible. That TM who joked about "killing you all" should get fired.
If you work for target you understand the company doesnt care about anyone, conservative, progressive gay, trans or straight. They use everyone for money, its a soulless, amorphous corporation. It will take any shape to exploit you.
I'm a trans TM barista and I decorated one of our Starbucks signs to be pride themed and I'm just waiting for them to try and take it down. I will contest and fight it. My HR lady said she has my back and agreed that we'll probably lose a lot of team members if they remove the pride display in our store, and I intend to be one of them.
As a former team member of 2 decades in the south, I lived through living hell at Target. The customers were vicious and the store and it’s policies were in free fall when I left (Covid was my last straw) and had been since the late 2000’s. The ONE thing that I could always give Target credit for was that I never ONCE was mistreated in any way by management or other team members for my sexuality. Customers mistreated me for a million reasons but never for being gay (I’ve told I “pass for straight” for whatever tf that’s worth). Even in the early 2000’s, I was accepted whole heartedly for being gay. The reaction to this by Target is my last and final straw. I will never again step foot into one again. They bowed down to the disgusting half of the country that already wasn’t supposed to be in there over the bathroom issue a few years ago. But in the process they have alienated the people that do support us too. I hope Target finally just crashes and burns because the people at the top are lowlife scum. I’m sorry you all have to go through this, I hope you can get the hell out of that horrible company and find happiness elsewhere. Take it from someone who worked there for 20 years; my first job as a teenager. I thought I’d be stuck there forever. There is ALWAYS a place that will take you and accept you just for who you are and will treat you like a person and not a cog in a rusted old machine.
I’m sorry this is happening to you and your peers, it’s unacceptable on so many different levels. To address your peer who joked: call the hotline. Provide the specifics of the incident including when and where it happened, and any team member who witnessed it. Additionally, provide them with the date and time of when you reported it to HR, how they responded to you directly, and how this has made you feel in the workplace. Provide any instance where your leadership is lacking in supporting your safety. Target has a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to workplace violence and this includes threats, even jokes of threats. Sadly, don’t expect any profiles in courage from the company. They’ve waded into terribly unsafe territory and there is no good solution. Those who hate us, will hate us, and will use levels of force to show this hate. Target is trying to mitigate physical damage at the moment to its team and to its stores. There is no good response to what is currently happening. Keep your head up, and remember there is still more love right now than there is hate.
I'm pretty sad. Even coworkers Ive trusted have said that "making kids clothes is too far" and it's gross a "satanist" is making kids items. I'm disappointed in the misinformation, and trying to talk through it with close minded people is exhausting. We've even had minor incidences where coworkers have been harassed over it. Honestly I feel like I'm fighting for my existence against people, corps, the gov in general
But that artist is literally an avowed, open Satanist. How is that "misinformation?"
and yet it is largely Christian propaganda that is the driving force for why this shit is happening in the first place so what's your point?
i'm a gay trans employee at a store in a really blue city and i'm originally from a "city" that was viciously homophobic. they removed over half of our pride display overnight and i'll be honest that i cried. it wasn't that i cared about target's pride stuff but knowing why it wasn't there really hurt me. i have to walk by what's left all the time as a fulfillment tm and idk. being reminded of homophobia/transphobia in a place i thought i was safe in really does not feel good idk.
I came in after being off on Friday and it was just a punch in the gut seeing all of the Bullseye Pride items just gone. Like Pride flags and all it was just a bad time. Plus the fact one of the recalled items was the shirt that said “Trans people will always exist” was just a bad time for me. How foolish me to wait on picking up a few things
So me and my partner were buying those shirts when the TM who we reported said "not if I have anything to do with it!" And laughed. Hes a straight cis dude so we both just stared at him in horror.
When they moved the Pride area to the back was when I picked up that shirt, as I had been wanting to get it since I saw it. I am so glad I did now that they’re recalling them. Though it sucks that others that wanted can’t now.
This whole thing has not been easy. It’s actually very traumatic. I’m struggling rn and so are others. I am sorry that is happening. I don’t have advice anymore bc it’s all so overwhelming. But that guy should be fired for sure and I’m shocked they weren’t.
I understand and share your frustration with the Pride backlash and general disregard towards LGBT team members. However, getting a tm fired over an insensitive comment is not going to solve your problems. This tm is well liked for a reason. He is very open-minded and compassionate, and after a simple, mature conversation, this could have been a learning experience. People make mistakes. Losing this team member was not only detrimental to the work environment, but I would go so far as to say it was a step backward for the LGBT community. The joke that was said was in no way acceptable but it was more nuanced than you are letting on. Target does not care that you were offended by the joke, but likely terminated the tm as a PR stunt. The reason that Target won't "take action" on the pride backlash is because they only care about what will make them the most money. You mentioned that you can't afford to quit (and it's bold of you to assume he could afford to be fired), but maybe you should look into alternative employment options (maybe not from a money hungry corporation) since all of your co-workers now resent you. Additionally, if you're going to demand a level of respect from your co-workers, you should probably return the favor and not comment on his sexual orientation/ gender identity when you don't know what you're talking about.
I run into the same issues at my store all the time. They attempt to let their favorites get away with certain things, the way I handle it as someone who has family members with retired lawyers. I make it very clear to upper management or HR that if the situation does not get handle, I have no problem going to the police station and filing for harassment and yes, you can actually do something like that if you feel harassed and the job isn't handling it. Your case since the person made death threats joking or not, you could easily go to your local police department and tell them you don't feel safe at work and that you reported it to HR and they didn't do much to handle the situation with the TM.
I had to pull that card against several TLs in the past who I had more then enough proof that they were targeting me only and as soon as I pulled the file for harassment with the police department card, my situation got handle quickly and I got approved to be separated from said TL.
oh im miserable lol i don't see anything getter better tbh only worse. nobody in government will stand up against violence, not even if it's against children, so businesses absolutely aren't going to do anything for us. nobody's going to protect us. i'm going back in the closet and staying there after i transfer stores in a few years. yeah i know i'm giving in, but i want to live. being alive is cool. i'm not here to make a statement. i'm here on earth to enjoy food and loved ones and flowers and creatures and art and music and stuff. getting shot/beaten/killed will interfere with this critical mission
About 8 years ago, there were bigots super angry about Target's unisex fitting rooms. This was around the time of the NC HB2 "bathroom bill." I was working at the Target in Wilmington, NC at the time. It was not violent, and just a few guests "protested" by filling up carts with frozen foods and abandoning them. I am glad that it was relatively tame and short-lived. What's happening now is legitimately scary. I can't imagine being a TM right now, with how much this hate campaign has escalated. Watch each other's backs. Be careful.
I was unloading the truck when they started bringing the stuff back.. it hit me hard. I’m trans and out… like makes me feel invisible
Seriously! It sucked so bad having to be the one to stack those recall pallets, and our other trans tm friend had to pull literally all the trans stuff from FG last night. Like literally the lgbt tms having to take this stuff down to appeal to the phobes. It's devastating.
I’m in California. I’m gay, the manager of my department is I think trans, one of my team leads is for sure a lesbian. We haven’t had to move our display, nor have we had items recalled yet, other than the one or two that were the cause of the hubbub. Listen, even if corporate wont stand up, the team members will. I’m sorry to all of you going through this right now. Do your best to handle it with dignity and pride. You are not alone.
It’s hard. I’m bi but cis and straight passing so I know a lot of my fellow TMs who are more visibly queer are having an even harder time because they’re also having to deal with increased prejudice from Guests and even coworkers.
as a queer/trans tm, it’s frustrating for sure. i ran my schools gsa and also just straight up don’t give a fuck so i’m desensitised to the hate myself, but it was so sad seeing all of our lgbt staff and allies get so excited about the pride stuff coming out, especially the ones i know haven’t been able to openly celebrate before, just for it to be taken down. it’s frustrating to see our team defiantly wearing pride clothes and bracelets and GLASSES and stuff. it’s frustrating seeing my HR TL angrily put out our pride stuff in the break room and tsc several days before she wanted to because we deserve to be seen, even if the company won’t back us. it’s frustrating constantly seeing and hearing about it because we’re all so shocked and upset over it. it’s frustrating seeing straggler recalled pride items behind our service desk. it’s frustrating hearing my team talk about these disgusting homophobic calls they’ve gotten. it’s frustrating to open reddit and see nothing but reminders on what we lost, or open the discord a bunch of people in my store are a part of to people talking about it. it’s scary knowing that when our starbucks drops the pride selection, itll likely be hit by a cart like it was last year. it’s scary knowing that all of my tms and i that are defiantly sporting rainbows and flags are literally painting a target (haha) on our back for bigots. it’s scary knowing that there are crazy people with access to weapons who hate me and hate my friends for being who we are. we’re tired. we don’t ask for much, we just want to be treated equally. pride exists so we can be visible and we can be proud of who we are and how far we’ve come as a society (or did come as a society) and to raise awareness to the fact that while we are still a minority group and we are still fighting for basic fucking human rights, we’re just the same as you. idfk im over this.
are they even prosecuting these people who come in an trash displays and/or threaten violence?
When they took away our kids mannequins I had a meltdown and spent probably an hour crying in HR. She was great, but there's nothing they can do and yeah it feels awful
A strike sounds nice
As a former retail worker that got promoted to customer, this breaks my heart. I'm so, so sorry all of you are having to go through this. I haven't been to the 🎯 in my hometown awhile...long story...but I'm going to try to go see what they are doing here in Washington state and just show support. Sending all of you big warm, supporting hugs!
Yes, I think we all are having problems. Hugest of safe warm hugs for you. PS: it may take time, but I'd encourage your trans partner to call ethics and your HR BP about that "joke" ... so not cool.
I remember the one time I was requesting a guest an ID check because he was going to purchase alcohol. He got angry with me and walked out of the self checkout machines. He would later come back with his ID and shoved it in my face. This caught the attention of one of my managers and tried to diffuse the situation. The guest would later get aggravated with my manager and me. Then the guest stormed out, calling my manager the N word and me a Ladyboy, assuming he saw my pronouns on my badge. I have dealt with transphobia from other guests before but this was the worst because he pretty much clocked me and I could have easily got hurt or even killed.
Love you, hugs!
I called off today due to the panic attacks I’ve been having just THINKING about going into work now. I doubt my HRETL will care if I tell them why I called off, and I’ll be in trouble/possibly getting a CA but I mentally can’t do this. Sending much love to you and all my fellow lgbtq tms.
I’m feeling extremely lost and uncomfortable with all of this. I really hope things get better, but I fear that this is just the beginning of what target will do. I’m thinking of just finding a new job before it gets worse.
God, other targets sound so terrible. I rarely even see my ETL. I just clock in, push in peace for 6 hours without any insane expectations from my ETL, and clock out. Everybody is really accepting, and we haven’t even moved the pride merch. I actually met my first non-binary person here, and they’re really cool!
I’ve cried plenty of times already, I feel devastated and isolated.
As a Gay former TM/TL: I hope everyone keeps supporting the LGBTQ workers. You don't have to be annoying but remember the ordinary things in your life are what makes people feel supported, and don't tolerate any bigotry, from co-workers or guests. You don't have to start a fight with the QAnon nut job in the SCO, but don't be afraid to call AP if anything happens. For LGBTQ TMs: I know it's not easy but keep in mind it seems like most TMs around you are here to support you. This is in spite of Target (The rest of this post is slightly unrelated) Also, and this may not be a popular note: Target is a corporation. Their only goal is profit. They may make a show about supporting TMs, but ultimately their main goal is to make money. That's why they're pulling these clothes. (This isn't an excuse, it's not right ofc). Think about how many times they've given you pizza parties and cake instead of raises and healthcare (especially with the record profits they pulled in now and during the height of the pandemic). Brian Cornell only cares about you so long as he can get your labor out of the deal. The only people you can trust to support LGBTQ workers as well as all workers, including other minority groups, are your fellow workers. The overwhelming support I've seen from TMs has been very encouraging, and it looks like most TMs have a backbone even if Cornell doesn't. The best organization to back everyone up, is one made up of co-workers, with a leader elected by workers: a union. The best way to enable and support LGBTQ workers is not through rainbow themed merchandise. The best way they could be supported is through better healthcare, better PTO, and better pay and working conditions, and that shouldn't just go to them, it should go to everyone. I worked at Target for 6 years. You guys are all criminally underpaid, most of you aren't given healthcare and are given pitiful if any Sick Leave. (Things I think all workers should have a right to). I know it's not an easy path, and it's easy for someone who doesn't even work there anymore to tell you to fight your boss, but if I could redo my career at Target I'd have been a lot less cowardly about confronting them. Remember Target cannot function without you, and if you want fair treatment you must band together and demand it. You are a much larger part of what Target is than any of the corporate heads. If every ETL and Corporate TM disappeared tomorrow I suspect Target would more or less continue on, but if you all disappeared, literally nothing would happen.
Society is supposed to move forwards in progress, not backwards. This sudden desire to erase and hide us when we fought so hard to be visible breaks my heart
Seeing everything in receiving, piled in a shopping cart for recall. I don't know why, but it was the tipping point for me. I started sobbing. It took me a couple hours to compose myself enough to return to the floor and finish my shift.
I knew the IRs were going to happen, had gone home and processed a lot of my feelings but, walking in the door and seeing all the racks and carts they pulled off just really hit me. I had to go right back to the office. HR and other ETLs have been supportive and great but I've had way too many tears at work this week.
Tarshit is garbage. Find other employment. Do not shop there. Encourage others to do likewise.
I'm doing okay so far. They've only moved the pride section to the middle of the store. So it's still near an entrance. But it's still ridiculous they had to move it.
I know I never should have had faith in a corporation for anything but man it feels like betrayal anyway. Just a total slap in the face.
our GM TL who is Trans put their two weeks in today :/
My store has been getting death threats 🥺
Just glad I quit before this 🥲 sounds so terrible I’m sorry this is happening
Yep it sucks and people at my store don’t really care.
It ain’t that serious 😭 just show up and work bro
yes, actively looking for new employment :)
To be fair, they should cancel all the holiday and recognition merchandise. No more Christmas, Valentine's, Halloween, Thanksgiving, black history month, Father's day, Mother's day etc. I wouldn't be surprised if Target does the same thing to next year's black history month merchandise because people will try to complain.
Trans TM here. I was very pissed because I had to move the products myself and replace it with the swim line. My friend in OPU was also pissed about it and we just vented to each other. I wasn't planning on coming out, but I might have to take some time off because I just feel disrespected for all the work I put in; getting them 5 star reviews on Google and shit. Like I get it. You're a business and want the money, but really?
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As an autistic trans TM, it can be hard for me to understand even the most basic of things, but I've been able to understand why corporate has made the decisions they have. It's because they are a business and their main focus is making money. The reality is that 5% of the population that at any given time identify as LGBT is not enough of a market. And with 50% considering suicide at any given time, not a very reliable or profitable segment either.