Target has a, well, target on its back from the gay community.
The bargain retailer that claims “unwavering” support for gay rights — it contributes annually to the Twin Cities Gay Pride Festival in Minneapolis, where Target is based, and has lines by the likes of gay designer Issac Mizrahi — has been tagged for contributing at least $150,000 to a a group supporting a Republican candidate for governor of Minnesota who is considered right wing even by Texas standards: He supports Arizona’s strict immigration law and opposes same-sex marriage. (Some people are even more pissed because the candidate, Tom Emmer, has also supported a ministry by an anti-gay Christian rocker named Bradlee Dean.)
Naturally, the gay community is incensed, even though the contribution is completely legal. Some activists and Democrats are calling for a boycott of the store. My question is: Why are we surprised?
I don’t believe for one minute that Target is, as a corporation, supporting this candidate because it believes gay marriage would be bad for business. Nah, they support him because he would run their home state and have a say in cutting taxes, etc. It’s a business decision.
Should we be angry? Support a boycott? I’m not sure. After all, what would we say if conservatives tried to boycott Target for its support of gay pride events? What if those protesters were successful? I’m not happy about it, but to me, the support is directed not at a single issue (for instance, gay marriage) but a candidate with a wide range of positions — none of which I agree with, but there you go. Keep in mind: Candidtae Barack Obama didn’t support gay marriage … nor did almost all other candidates on the Dems’ side (almost — Clinton and Gore came out in favor… in 2009; too little, too late). Now, if Target contributed to, say, enacting Prop 8, or donated to Westboro Baptist, well, that’s different. And the Bradlee Dean connection? Do we now base our decision on Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon?
Anyway, what do you think? Will a contribution to a political candidate in another state affect your shopping habits? Should it affect mine?
31 Comments
Sure. If you ‘guys’ don’t mind being targeted (sic) by a homophobe who wishes death to all gays, who has ties to the candidate, go ahead and shop your hearts out. I, for one, and not being gay, still find homophobia (and transphobia, of course) being a bit distasteful and socially unacceptable.
Did you really have to ask the question?
Target can choose not to give money to anyone. Since when that is not a option anymore?
Boycotting Target is a little bit premature. Like the article says…they were making a business decision. I don’t think you can be so nit picky about every little decision.
I’m on the fence on this. Target does a lot of good in our community and this candidate’s alleged affiliation to this Christian group is beyond the pale. The CEO pretty much as said they support him for his business friendly positions – which I tend to believe and think they need to rethink further donations.
I’m not going to support a boycott as I don’t think this ‘issue’ is deserves that much of a response.
Arnold and Geoffrey – I suspect you might see the issue in a different light if Target had given a huge financial contribution to Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott when he runs for higher office. All the same arguments could be made there: it’s not personal, it’s just business, see? Of course, the dollars they use to subsidize your enemy’s political aspirations came out of your wallet, freely given, but filtered thru an intermediary. I think an example should be made of Target. In Minnesota an individual can give a maximum of $2000 – how’s that puny amount going to compare with Target’s $150,000?
I am honestly disappointed. I understand that Target is a business at the end of the day. I do however believe that support of such a staunch anti-gay enthusiast, was not the wisest decision ever made. They may have also wanted to consider the substantial buying power of the GLBTQ community. I believe that short lived boycott may prove to be the teaching point necessary for Target to reconsider future political contributions.
The “business decision” that Target made was to pay to help get someone into office that would increase their profits while at the same time hurting the lives of all gay Minnesotans, and probably gay Americans and their families. Target’s business decision was to support a politician who just as easily would keep gay people unequal as lower taxes.
I have to echo my disappointment, and add my additional two cents: the leading contender for the Democratic nomination is Mark Dayton. The Dayton family founded Target but no longer owns it, and I can’t help but suspect there might also be some animus towards the former owners that motivated this decision.
Regardless of their reasons, I’m deeply disappointed in Target. They would not have made the same decision had Emmer possessed such close ties to a white-supremacist group. The fact that he has ties to a heterosexual-supremacist group should have weighed more heavily in their decision.
I’ll not be shopping there in the future, or at least until they make amends for this. I happen to think equal rights just a tad bit more important than a business-friendly regulatory environment.
where am i gonnna pick up trade now?
Being gay, I am also dissapointed in their decision, but I just think that somebody..some group would have been offended no matter who Target donated money to or endorses. In this case it’s us.
With more than four thousand people a day abandoning Target, they may not have to worry about a “favorable business climate” much longer!
My issue with Emmer is his support of someone who wants gays killed. That is over the line of disagreement and into the land of psychosis. And any politician who supports that should not be supported by companies and individuals who claim to be supporters of the LGBT community.
Why wouldn’t I boycott? “Family Values” groups DO boycott businesses all the time. Just as it’s “their right” and they were doing it “just for business”–it’s my right to not give them my money to support hate, and it’s my right to use “just business” to express this view. It seems like “just business”, after all, is the bottom line for them, not equality. And to those who say, “Every biz does this,”–as I find out about them, I will make my choices. I’m AS angry at Target for putting out an open, gay-friendly face WHILE hypocritically gunning for some measly tax cut they can well freaking afford to pay.
Target needs to think of all the lives their candidate will ruin and tear up if elected.By donating to this candidate and campaigns that are openly homophobic and biggoted Target is saying to the LGBTQ community that we do not really give a crap to your feelings and we discredit your lives.Your families mean nothing to us and we con’t care about equality.I hope this boycott really takes off,when it starts hitting their bottom line we will see if they change their tune. I’d love to see a statistic that shows how much of Targets profits and sales are attributed to the LGBTQ community.
I think a major point you missed is the sense of betrayal that the GBLT community feels in light of the news of Target’s contribution. Target opening courts our friendship, trust and brand loyalty. So to learn that they support a politician with an anti-gay agenda and say only that they do it because its ‘good for business’ makes us wonder if that’s all their relationship with us ever was. Good for business…
Here’s how I see it. The boycott is a personal choice for all of us. Some of the money Target has donated has come from my pocket and many other gay pockets. It is Target’s choice how they spend that money. However, I don’t like how they’ve chosen to spend the money “I” gave them, so they will get no more of MY money.
That a gay newspaper chose to run this article is beyond me. Not boycotting Target for what their CEO did is beyond me. Where do you really stand on LGBT rights Dallas Voice? The only way a corporation such as Target will change is by doing very, very, very poorly in sales as a result of this.
I’m boycotting Target because money they donated was funneled to a political candidate who said “these are nice people” about a group that said “Muslims are calling for the executions of homosexuals in America. This just shows you they themselves are upholding the laws that are even in the Bible of the Judeo-Christian God, but they seem to be more moral than even the American Christians do, because these people are livid about enforcing their laws. They know homosexuality is an abomination.”
So below is the email I sent to their CEO:
Good afternoon, Mr. Steinhafel-
I’m writing this letter to you as a Target brand fanatic. I’ve been shopping at
Target for the last 30 years of my life, beginning at age 2 with my mother every
Saturday morning, through high school, college, and now into my adulthood. Part
of my profession is to teach our branded culture at the company I work for. We
discuss how brands tap into peoples’ emotions and how we use this to create
memorable experiences for our guests. In my training, I use a personal example
about my loyalty to Target throughout my years, and it’s really about the
memories and past experiences that bring me back to Target week after week.
My partner and I shop at Target every Friday night for our groceries,
toiletries, and make random trips for other items throughout the week. I can
honestly say we spend no less than $5,000.00 a year at Target (between the two
of us). We know all of the cashiers, the deli person, and the Starbuck’s
barista.
News came out this week about Target Corporation’s $150,000.00 donation to MN
Forward. I completely understand that corporations donate funds to all sorts of
causes, PACs, charities, etc. I have no problem with this. However, these
funds were provided to Tom Emmer, a Minnesota gubanatorial candidate who is
against civil gay rights. This candidate has ties with Bradlee Dean, bandleader
of You Can Run But You Can’t Hide, a Christian punk band who advocates the
execution of gay human beings. Donating to anti-gay politicians, not so great
in my book, but I can live with it. Donating to anti-gay politicians who say
“they’re nice guys” when talking about a band who say it’s okay to kill gay
people in the name of god, absolutely disgusting.
I must say I’m deeply saddened by this news. I can no longer shop at Target,
and neither can my family and friends. Instead of using the Target brand in my
associate training as my brand to which I am emotionally connected, I will use
them as an
example of a company whose brand image is not in alignment with their actions.
This sets them up for failure and causes them to lose guest loyalty. (My old
example was WalMart).
I hope you did in fact have the opportunity to read this, I know our LGBT
community is very vocal, so I’m sure you’ve received your fair-share of emails,
rightfully so. We expect answers and how you will make it right with our
community.
Thank you for your time.
Good lord. Can gays not disagree? If you don’t go down the line with the “gay rights” mantra, you’re anti-gay? Please. Lighten up Manny and all – this is not life or death. This is a company making a business decision.
This sort of article belongs in a gay magazine because it challenges the group-think mentality that is so prevalent in gay culture.
I think the thing that bothers me the most about this story, that you as well as most other publications and media outlets seem to leave out of this very important story, is that Tom Emmer the candidate who received the donation via MN FORWARD via Target, is not just that Tom Emmer is extremely anti-gay. The very important part of the story you LEFT OUT, is Tom Emmer’s association, DIRECT ASSOCIATION, with a Christian Punk Rock Ministry (I know….OXYMORON right?) that goes by the name “You Can Run..” They advocate the killing (that’s MURDER) of gays and lesbians. Tom Emmer has been photographed with the leader of this so called “Christian” group and he’s donated money to them. Money that could very well have come from MN FORWARD via Target. So indirectly Target is now guilty by association of donating to a group that advocates murder of gays and lesbians….Big slap in the face.
So I would say this is an extremely important story, and a BOYCOTT that needs to go viral and spread like wild fire across this country and any other country that Target resides in.
LGBT rights are human rights. Equal rights are constitutional rights. Protesting equal and human rights are consitutional rights, as well – changing laws or creating laws based upon one groups’ religious or moral beliefs is not. If an organzation wants to exlcude LGBT people from their regligious organizations, they are entitled to do so. Trying to influence laws based upon religious beliefs is unconstitutional and dangerous. Should be all be forced to keep kosher? Wear head scarves? If Taget funneled money to a candidate who opposed rights to a group based upon enthnicity or religious affiliation, the outcry would be huge and no one would be debating whether or not to protest or boycott.
It’d be different if the PAC Target donated to, MN Forward, lived up to their claim of non-partisanship, but they only support one candidate: Emmer.
https://www.365gay.com/news/target-ceo-defends-minn-donations/
Hello Walmart! Nice to meet you. Let me introduce you to my wallet.
I just typed a wand unappreciated after all the work that I put into the comment. I hope you take a look at how your system determines what is spam so that future attempts at writing legitimate comments are not also blocked in t
Jones is trying to make this a single issue item. It’s not. Target gave to a group that supports not only this right wing homophobe, but also Gov. Pawlenty, who tried to ban abortion even in cases of rape and incest, and Michelle Bachman, the raving loonie who tries to out-Sarah Sarah Palin, yes, the same Bachman that got major bux last year in crop subsidies for NOT farming on the land she owns, and yet, somehow, does not think jobless benefits should be extended.
To Hadley: How would you feel to find out that your purchase at Target or Best Buy helped gay Minnesotans to lose their civil rights and burden their lives? I’m not sure that you can even call this purchase decision to be little, let alone a $150,000 contribution to an anti-gay politician who has tried to take away adoption rights and will probably go as far as he can to persecute gay people.
Thank you for the informative and provocative article and question. The more facts that I learn the better I am able to respond.
view a boycott of Target and Best Buy on this issue to voice my criticism of the Supreme Court’s Citizen United decision. Corporations now have the disproportionate voice in the political arena, and they are choosing to use their financial power to directly back candidates whose agendas I do not support. I want corporations to feel the impact of their decisions. They donated 150K to an anti-gay candidate; they can now lose (at least) 150K in profits because of that decision. Enough of these sorts of boycotts, and corporations may learn that entering the political arena does not make the financial sense they imagined.
I’m through with Target. Period. End of story.
The idea that business profits and greed trump all other considerations such as the environment, education, health care, or human and civil rights is immoral and destroying our country.
Given that this is one of the first opportunities to stand up to a corporation that uses the Citizens’ United Supreme Court ruling to donate big money to a political candidate, it is incredibly important to punish Target as a warning to other corporations who might be thinking about doing the same thing.
For those who say, “It’s just a business decision”, how would you feel if Tom Emmer were a Nazi or a white supremacist?
Just how far does this country have to tilt in favor of the ultra-wealthy and against the 90% of us who are simply trying to survive before people will stand-up and say, “Enough is enough?”
It’s very simple for me: I try to support only those businesses and candidates that support equal human and civil rights for all persons, among other things. That doesn’t mean I am totally consistent or do extensive research before deciding with whom I will do business, but I do the best I can. When this kind of thing gets my attention, I take action.
Emmer’s positions on the Arizona immigration law and his support of Bradlee Dean really put the icing on the cake.
In fact, I am so incensed by Target’s donation that I hope I have an opportunity to demonstrate in front of the City Place Target. I won’t organize a protest, but I will certainly participate if a protest is organized.
Don’t forget that Obama sent Donnie McClurkin to South Carolina to denounce gays at campaign events targeting African-American voters. That’s why I didn’t support Obama in the Democratic Primary and didn’t vote for president in the November 2008 election. (NOTE: I had that luxury in Texas. Had I been living in a battleground state, where my vote for president could have actually made a difference, I would have voted for Obama because McCain is even worse on LGBT issues.
P. S; If you doubt Target’s animus towards anything decent, check this out:
According to Target’s “Business Conduct Guide,” these contributions must be approved by Vice President of Government Affairs Matt Zabel. Zabel is former Chief of Staff to one of the most right-wing, anti-environment, anti-civil and human rights, anti-labor, pro-anything-that-screws-the-public-to-advance-corporate-profits-and-greed, Republicans – Senator John Thune.
Hiring Zabel puts the lie to Steinhafel’s claim that Target’s “political contributions benefit candidates of both parties.”
Zabel has just been hired. His first day on the job was July 23rd.
Does anyone still doubt that Target is just one more right-wing, irresponsible and greedy corporation out for short-term profits that turn into big bonuses for greedy executives?
You can’t oppose the KKK and sell them sheets.