A reader wrote to me last week and said that he and his boyfriend are continuing to boycott Target, and he requested an update.
I contacted Paul Guequierre, a spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, who said the organization is still calling on Target to “Make it right.”
At issue was Target’s $150,000 donation to MN Forward, a political action committee supporting the candidacy of anti-gay Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer.
Guequierre said HRC has staff in Minnesota working for the Mark Dayton campaign. Dayton is the Democrat opposing Emmer, a Republican.
“Minnesota could be the next state to have marriage equality,” Guequierre said.
But he said that will only happen with Dayton as governor. Currently, Dayton is ahead in the polls.
Target’s parent company was originally called Dayton-Hudson and candidate Dayton, whom Target opposes, comes from the store’s founding family.
Guequierre said if Dayton wins, “Target will have to ask themselves if it was worth it. Their reputation within the community has changed.”
Personally, since being asked to leave a local Target for asking questions while trying to cover this story, I’ve stayed away and am unlikely to go back. I don’t shop where the LGBT community is not welcome, but I really avoid stores where I’ve been thrown out. (The offensive question: Has the LGBT boycott of Target affected your store at all?)
Target once received a perfect score of 100 percent in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index. This year, the company had 15 points deducted because of the political contribution and its refusal to make it right.
Best Buy also made a large donation to MN Forward and has not made it right either.
But Guequierre said HRC has never called for a boycott.
“Both companies treat their LGBT employees right,” he said.
So there is no HRC-sanctioned boycott, but many members of the LGBT community have decided to find other places to shop.
Thanx for the update David. My friend did her bridal registry at Target and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I haven’t been actively boycotting Target but I was wondering where I should get her gift. Now I know.
I also appreciate the update. I haven’t been to a Target store since this hit, sometime in July(?). I won’t say it has been easy, but it feels right. Has there been any pressure applied by stockholders? I thought I’d read that stockholders were very unhappy with the donation to Emmer and the ugly shadow it cast on the company.
I too have continued boycotting target (over in L.A.) but wonder why I never hear much about it anywhere even with people I know who are very politically active. Doesn’t seem like a very hot topic. I wonder why? I hope more people do the right thing & boycott till target makes it right.
I think Target’s strategy at this point is to simply wait until the election. If Dayton wins, we’re happy and stockholders who opposed the donation are happy. If Emmer wins and actually can lower taxes any, Target can throw that in their shareholders’ faces. Target is counting on this to blow over after the election.
Shareholders have very little power even though they technically own the company. If any large block of shareholders should be annoyed it should be members of the Dayton family. They presumably still control a large block of company stock, although nowhere near a controlling share.
Thanks for the update on the Target boycott. I’m rather baffled at the overall silence about the boycott these last several months. It’s rather creepy; makes me wonder about how powerful this particular corporation is in relation to the American press/media. Anyhow, I continue to avoid shopping at Target here in San Diego, CA. Same for Best Buys. I just can’t justify to myself giving either of those businesses my hard-earned cash. I now shop at Sears Essentials (formerly K-Mart) for most of the things I used to buy at Target.
After Target donated $150,000 to extreme right wing Tea Party candidate Tom Emmer, the only people shopping at Target are those people who buy gold from Glenn Beck’s advertisers. So what did Target get for its $150,000 ? The name of MUD with all moderate and progressive people. Maybe they will be able to foist this vicious right-wing guy on the Minnesota people, but that just means that Target’s name will continue to be MUD with most of us.
Thanks for the update ! I too have stopped shopping at Target, It’s sad to hear they can’t make it right. I have to admit I enjoyed shopping there all the time. But I have adjusted to a new and better me..