Target is facing fresh criticism from conservatives over its Christmas ornaments.
The retailer has a range of Christmas decorations available this year including Santas of various ethnicities in wheelchairs and a toy soldier carrying the LGBTQ+ Pride flag and wearing a rainbow hat. It comes after the company suffered losses when shoppers boycotted Target for stocking Pride month merchandise and transgender friendly swimwear earlier this year
“Target outdid itself this year for Christmas,” @endwokeness wrote on X, formerly Twitter, sharing photos of the ornaments on store shelves.
Not everyone agreed with the criticism.
“Being kind to kids with disabilities means being woke now? The far right [thumbs down emoji, trashcan emoji], wrote an X user.
“They had Dracula in a wheel chair for Halloween. I love the fake character outrage. They are all mad of things that don’t exist. Santa, Dracula, mermaids,” another person said.
A number of corporations have been victim of boycott campaigns this year for their “woke” policies, including collaborating with LGBTQ+ people. Beer brand Bud Light, chocolate company Hershey’s and even Fox News faced call for boycotts in 2023.
Target was forced to close some stores after bomb threats were called in and staff assaulted over the outrage Pride Month range in June, including a T-shirt with the slogan “trans people will always exist” and a onesie featuring the words “bien proud” in the colors of the LGBTQ+ Pride flag.
The company announced it would review some products and removed others entirely from its shelves. Target also temporarily closed some stores because the threats were “impacting our team members’ sense of safety and wellbeing.”
The products reviewed included those aimed at children and swimsuits with the ability to “tuck” genitalia for transgender women.
“Our focus now is on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year,” Target spokesperson Kayla Castaneda said in June.
Following the Pride month dilemma, Target also faced backlash in August for stocking a book by New York Times bestselling children’s author Eric Geron is called Bye Bye, Binary, which is about a newborn baby who “refuses to conform to the gender binary and instead chooses toys, colors, and clothes that make them happy.”
Nonbinary is a term for a person whose “gender identity and/or gender expression as falling outside the binary gender categories of ‘man’ and ‘woman,'” according to LGBTQ+ media advocacy group GLAAD.
While some people slammed the book and Target for selling it, plenty of others left positive reviews on the retailer’s website.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/target-sparks-conservative-outrage-over-woke-christmas-ornaments/ar-AA1jYdbm?cvid=3a9ab54b016b42f0b45ed5b420fb8b39&ei=16
