In early June, a manager at a Target in South Florida told the Washington Post that some shoppers have called employees “child groomers.”
Unknown persons who depict themselves as LGBT advocates have also threatened violence.
On June 10, in identical emails to news outlets, an unknown person threatened several Target stores in Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. The messages accused Target of betraying the LGBT community, the Washington Post reported.
In Lafayette, Louisiana, police searched two Target stores after bomb threats from unknown people claimed Target “betrayed the LGBTQ+ community” and are “pathetic cowards who bowed to the wishes of far-right extremists who want to exterminate us.”
People claiming to be angry about the removal of merchandise made several bomb threats to stores in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Utah.
The FBI and the regional Joint Terrorism Task Force are assisting with some investigations of the threats. Local police also investigated Target stores for safety threats.
The 15 attorneys general told Target CEO Cornell that they understood why the company would pull some Pride merchandise on grounds of worker and customer safety. They voiced readiness to address “anti-LGBTQIA+ threats and harassment” and said Target’s Pride merchandise “helps LGBTQIA+ people see that they enjoy considerable support and that loud and intimidating fringe voices and bullies do not represent the views of society at large.”
They said that as Target considers its response, the company should be mindful of its obligations under their states’ anti-discrimination laws that protect sexual orientation and gender identity.
“While these laws certainly do not create a legal obligation for retailers to offer any particular merchandise or create any particular displays, they do demand that customers be treated equally,” their letter said.
Massachusetts’ law, the letter noted, allows customers or other members of the public to be held liable if they discriminate on the basis of a protected class, and those who believe their rights are threatened by threats, harassment, intimidation, or coercion may seek legal injunctions. The Minnesota Human Rights Act also bars anyone from intentionally obstructing or preventing any person from complying with its law.
Kevin J. Jones is a senior staff writer with Catholic News Agency. He was a recipient of a 2014 Catholic Relief Services' Egan Journalism Fellowship.