Your favorite megastore has become the target of a scathing campaign against transgender rights in the US.
More than half a million people have pounced to sign a petition to boycott Target stores after the retailer issued a statement on its website last week saying it would welcome customers to use facilities — restrooms and fitting rooms — that best aligned with their gender identity. And the digital mob is growing.
More: ESPN Fires Curt Schilling in Bathroom Bill Row
The boycott effort, complete with its #BoycottTarget hashtag, was launched by the conservative American Family Association to object a policy that “poses a danger to wives and daughters,” according to AFA’s president Tim Wildmon.
“Target’s policy is exactly how sexual predators get access to their victims” he wrote in an open letter.
But what if our internet vigilantes had the wrong target all along?
Here’s why the outrage about bathrooms is misplaced.
1. First off, there is nothing new about Target’s bathroom policy. The company prides itself for being a champion of “inclusivity” and has long been a supporter of LGBT-friendly causes. The statement issued last week, “Continuing to Stand for Inclusivity,” simply restated a long standing company stance on the heels of North Carolina’s controversial bathroom bill.
Thanks https://t.co/G9S0TBFOMS for this meme. #wearenotthis #repealHB2 attn: #BoycottTarget #itsnotaboutthebathrooms pic.twitter.com/ZRQO2mjA6J
— Katie BenedettoJones (@heykatieben) April 26, 2016
2. Secundo, despite Curt Schilling’s insinuations, there has never been a reported case of any transgender person molesting a child in a public restroom. Anywhere. Ever. Those who argue otherwise and perpetuate the malignant idea that trans are perverts in dresses not only have no hard evidence this is true, but use this idea to play off people’s prejudices about transgender people. Bad Twitter! Bad!
This is ESPN's Curt Schilling's disgusting view of transgender people #HB2 https://t.co/7DKRXDL4GL pic.twitter.com/hLNhtRf9xe
— Outsports (@outsports) April 19, 2016
3. While not all boycotters are saying transgender people are “sexually deviant,” many are still concerned that the policy is an open door for sexual predators, who could easily pretend to identify as women to get inside the fitting room and sneak a peak at your daughter’s panties.
#wejustneedtopee #bathroombillproblems pic.twitter.com/c3qV2Kp8Dx
— Shay Hughes (@shaylhughes) April 11, 2016
But if the real issue lies with pedophiles, perverts and peeping toms, surely leagues of concerned parents should also be boycotting stores all over Alaska and Idaho? (The two states with the highest rate of registered sex offenders in the US.) Alaska’s child assault rate is six times the national average; for rape, it’s three times. Yet in Fairbanks — where there’s one registered offender… for every 234 people — child abusers are still free to lurk around elementary schools, playgrounds, parks and bathrooms.
4. Walmart has had the same policy for years. And still no sign of #BoycottWalmart. (Please don’t start trending.)
5. Knowing that this woman might be hiding somewhere in the ladies room strikes me as a much better reason to boycott Target. Just because the store’s called “Target” doesn’t mean you can use the restroom a shooting range club.
6. Literally, nobody cares.
Lmao ???????????? #BoycottTarget #nobodycares #ShorterLineForMe pic.twitter.com/soNEpwP9LI
— #HTownTakeover (@BryanTurnquist) April 26, 2016
5. And if after all that, you are still concerned about your safety or that of your kids, you could always escort them to the single-user, unisex, family restroom — which every single Target store is equipped with — or forgo Target’s restroom altogether.
Never use the bathrooms at Target. Not because they are gender-neutral but because it's the bathroom…at Target, #BoycottTarget
— Michael Binns (@MTBinns) April 26, 2016
