Target CEO Regrets His Decision to Allow Transgender People to Use Restrooms, Dressing Rooms of Their Choice; Says AFA Boycott Was Self-Inflicted

Target CEO regrets his decision to allow transgender people to choose their restrooms of their choice. (Mike Mozart/Flickr/CC)

A very damaging article just out from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) clearly shows that Target CEO Brian Cornell regrets his company’s policy announcement welcoming men to use women’s restrooms and fitting rooms.

WSJ interviewed a representative from the American Family Association (AFA), who launched the immensely successful #BoycottTarget initiative nearly a year ago. The 1.5 million-signature boycott has sent the strong message to the retailer that its misguided and potentially dangerous bathroom policy is the reason millions of families are no longer shopping there.

According to the article, Cornell expressed frustration about how the bathroom policy was publicized without his permission or knowledge, and told colleagues he wouldn’t have approved the decision to flaunt it with a public statement that is still on Target’s website today.

WSJ reported that Cornell told staff that “Target didn’t adequately assess the risk, and the ensuing backlash [AFA boycott] was self-inflicted.” (Read the entire WSJ article here; subscription required.)

The WSJ article also explained that Target headquarters sent an internal memo to store managers reiterating its official stance on men using women’s facilities. On April 15, 2016, a group Target calls its “risk committee” emailed executives informing them of a plan to post that message publicly. Cornell wasn’t among the recipients of that email, but at least two Target executives approved the post.

“The American Family Association Target boycott has wreaked internal havoc at Target,” said AFA President Tim Wildmon. “Out-of-touch executives incorrectly assumed that the backlash would die down, but we can see today—with plummeting stock prices and decreased traffic in stores—that it certainly has not.

“Together we are making an unprecedented financial impact on a corporation whose policy is to allow men to use women’s restrooms and dressing rooms,” Wildmon added. “Target’s decision is unacceptable for families, and its dangerous and misguided policy continues to put women and children in harm’s way.”

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SOURCE: Charisma News
Jen Retallick, Hamilton Strategies