Target’s Transgender Bathroom Controversy Essay Example

coming in to shop, target took a stand on what they termed as inclusivity for all people. This was in the battle over transgender rights whereby the retailer announced that shoppers should be able to choose whichever bathroom or fitting room matched their gender identity. (Picchi, 2016).

On April 16, 2016, the target stores announced their stand on inclusivity as a way to serve their customers better while protecting them against discrimination. The retailer stated that inclusivity is part of their core belief in promoting equality and equity within the organization. Their stand of the transgender issue was so they could make all shoppers, guests and team members feel welcome and comfortable to shop and work with them. Similarly, Target was not shy to reveal their support for the Federal Equality Act which is famous for providing protection to LGBT people and opposes any act that cause discrimination. As target continued to stand for inclusivity it also made it clear that they did and still do assess any issues and consider other factors that may impact the business, customers and team members. They belief for everyone feeling accepted and welcome in their stores was not received well by the public whom felt insecure about Target’s stand. (Czarnecki, 2016). For that reason, representatives of the American Family Association (AFA) decided to meet with Target as they hand-delivered a petition with 1.2 million signatures asking Target to do away with the pro-transgender bathroom policy. (Huston, 2016).

Description of communication efforts

Following the petition, Target has responded through its CEO, Brian Cornell, by stating that the company is not intending to reverse their support for the pro-transgender policy. Speaking to CNBC’s

Squawk’s Box, mid-May, 2016, he said that their main focus will be to ensure safety for all customers and ensure the environment is welcoming for all its customers. The American Family Association (AFA) had made a suggestion about allowing a separate unisex bathroom but Cornell insisted that 1400 of 1797 stores have a family restroom. Cornell also explained that they are still in the process of ensuring that all stores have the option for a family restroom. Despite the pressure from AFA’s president arguing that transgender people would walk past a unisex bathroom just to make a point and harass people, Cornell ignored his argument as stuck to the decision of standing by the policy. (Zaimov, 2016).Cornell also gave an example of the 1960s African-American models of advertising as a way to show that his decision could be reversed whatsoever. His argument for the support for the transgender policy was that the policy may not be acceptable today but with time the public will agree with him on his decision. He also insisted that target does not take the issue of safety lightly but to also strives to achieve inclusive by balancing both aspects of business. Parents who send their children to target stored held protest across several stores and expressed their feeling that their children will not feel safe with men being allowed to enter the restrooms. Cornell did not respond to the protests and insisted on keeping a safe and equal environment for Target’s customers. (Zaimov, 2016).

Response from public and media

The public’s reaction to the company’s support for the trans-gender policy has been met with opposition from parents who raised concerns about child

sexual predators harming their children. The parents protects outside Target stores as they tries to explain their grievances about men dressing like women and claim to be transgender. One instance was outside Jackson, Mississippi’s Target store where parents explained that they are not saying being transgender will be harmful but rather allowing men to use women restrooms will scare children. The public decided to file a petition and as they were led by AFA they pledged for a boycott of Target’s bathroom policy. One of the parents also argued that Target’s new policy is unverifiable and one cannot know the intent of a man in a woman’s restroom. (Zaimov, 2016). AFA’s president urged the public and other movement to join in their #BoycottTarget campaign as they claimed the policy was dangerous and destructive to millions of Americans. They also went as far as requesting those who agree with AFA not to visit Target stores hence causing decline their profits. (Huston, 2016).

There was also mixed reaction from the senate whereby Democrats left their seat before the vote for the anti-LGBT bathroom bill was passed. The North Carolina governor signed the bill late March so as to eliminate discrimination against the LGBT individuals. Some customers were thankful to Target for considering the legislation and encouraging inclusivity in their stores. On the other hand, transgender people expressed their discontent with the policy whereby a Skye Thompson, a transgender student in North Carolina high school expresses how the bill will affect him directly. Thompson says people will be afraid of scared of him because he looks like a guy hence entering women restroom will cause a scene. Another customer

in Indianapolis said that she won’t consider using their restroom and fitting rooms and she has to rethink shopping at the Target stores. (Mclean, 2016).

Despite the backlash from the public, USA Today reports that other companies such as Starbucks. Hudson Bay Co. and Barnes& Noble have welcomed transgender individuals to use restrooms of the gender they identify with. In North Carolina, Bruce Springsteen cancelled his show to show his solidarity with transgender persons while other brands such as Levi Strauss& Co and Williams-Sonoma have openly come out against the bill. According to poll done by Fortune, 58 percent of the participants agreed with Target’s stand on the policy while 42 percent expressed discontent. The difference is too close to call but the Target Boycott clearly shows the customers’ negative perceptions about their brand. (Carneglia, 2016). Despite the negative reaction and backlash from the public, AFA’s Wildmon reported that Target’s leadership is not committed in changing the policy hence the boycott campaign will continue. Wildmon commented on Breitbart news reporting that he was pleased that Target accepted to meet them but he insisted that the management did not seem to care about their grievances and they were unapologetic. Additionally Wildmon revealed that Target management did not deny the fact that they were going to let men use women’s facilities within the stores. (Huston, 2016).

Wildmon criticizes Target’s defense for including family restroom while making it clear that Target should separate men’s and women’s restrooms and have a family bathroom for transgender people. Further claims from the public claimed that Target was pouncing on the traditional bathroom rules of North Carolina to satisfy the radical gay lobby. (Huston).

The results of Target’s pro-LGBT policy are evident through the downward spiral their stocks are taking. According to the Family Policy Institute of Washington, the stocks fell from $84.10 to $79.36 in one week. That means that the company lost an average of $2.5 billion within a week of announcing their decision to support the policy. The 1.2 million Americans who signed for a petition showed that people were not willing to trade their safety and privacy for a problem that did not exist before. (Zaimov, 2016).

The media reported Target’s response whereby Target stood by their policy and assured its customers they will be experience safety and inclusion. The reaction was that 600,000 customers had already pledged not to shop at any Target store until they review their position on the policy. Target’s response ignited fire among its customers who explicitly expressed their arguments saying they were scared for their children and women who will be sharing restrooms with men. (James & Binder, 2016). Social media exploded after a man posing as Target‘s customer-service responded to customers queries rudely. Some customer took offense in the imposter posing as Mike Melgaard while others played along. Despite Target taking down the profile, the customers were already fuming with fury over their decision on the policy. (Spector, 2016).

Critique and Analysis

Target’s decision for Transgender bathroom policy was a smart business decision especially because of the anti-gay laws that have been imposed in many states. This decision was smart as most organizations are moving their business to a more LGBT-friendly location. For instance Indiana lost $60 million in revenue due to its discrimination against the gay people. Despite the backlash

which affected on Target’s brand, there is also a larger group of people who support their decision. According to Kevin Dinino, CEO of San Diego-based KCD PR, there are approximately 80 million shoppers still loyal to Target while 1.5 percent has left due to the policy. Their support for exclusivity and gender equality was sound but the way the CEO responded to the public may have tainted the company’s brand. (Zaimov, 2016)
The decision to allow men enter women’s restroom was inconsiderate of the rest of the public as the company was concentrating on the minority group while ignoring the majority. This was a controversial move on the company especially since the CEO, Cornell, emphasized on making sure all customers feel safe and respected. Additionally the company took too long to respond to the public’s grievances hence making it hard to recover from the backlash.

The consumer perception of the brand was that the company did not care for women and children as they endangered them by allowing men into their bathroom. Target also failed in terms of communication in that they let people impersonate their customer service and mishandle customers whom took offense in the impersonator’s response. In the public’s eye, target’s policy may seem as a way for sexual predators to have access to their victims hence men should not be allowed to use women’s bathroom.

The CEO’s assurance to include family restrooms was a good idea although the company should have had these options in place before announcing their support for the policy. Despite the CEO of Target assuring the public that they took into consideration all factors before supporting the policy, his silence before

responding to the public showed that he was unsure of his decision. On the other hand, the company’s stand on the policy did not waiver and that showed their commitment to the policy and keeping all customers feel safe. Cornell said the company was focusing on the safety and providing a welcoming environment for all their customers. The company’s goal was to welcome all people but it may have compromised their stocks and customer loyalty because many parents were afraid for their kids and could not trade their family’s safety and privacy for the policy. As a result of the company’s stand on the policy companies such as Walmart who did not announce their stand gained more customers.

Recommendation

In an effort to achieve the goal of inclusivity while ensuring that safety is observe, there are a few recommendations that Target can do so as to maintain their client and protect their consumer perception. Firstly, I believe that Target should start off by listening to the public and their concerns regarding their support for the Transgender bathroom policy. Once they give their customers chance to express their concerns, they should address those issues without hiding behind the cover of being supporting equality and safe environment. Similarly, they should be able to evaluate their options in terms of the majority of customers who promote their stock as well as the minority. Building women and men restroom with the option of transgender restroom will also be able to put their customers at easy as they use the restrooms.
I also recommend that the company should not put a limelight on the specific customer’s employees or guests who are transgender as

they may feel threatened. Additionally, the single-sex bathrooms have not been discriminatory over the years and as Target has been having the traditional bathroom rules. For that reason I would recommend that they do away with the whole policy as they are not solving a real problem. In fact the company had a perfect 100 percent rating as done by the Human Rights Campaign during a Corporate Equality Index hence it does not need to change a thing. The question of equality is still a controversial issue in America and in efforts to address the issue appropriately, Target should retain their stand while keeping their promise of providing safety and ensuring all their stores has the option for family restrooms.

Conclusion

In conclusion, Target stores have been known to be the number one revenue retailer but its support for the transgender policy has backlashed. The retailer announced its support for transgender customers in the store to use bathroom that match their gender identity rather. Following its support, the American Family Association (AFA) filed a petition with over 1.2 million signatures so as to call for reversal of the policy. AFA argued that Target was giving access to sexual predators by allowing men to use women’s bathroom. Target’s CEO explained that the reason for supporting the policy was to promote inclusivity for all customers, guests and employees hence making them feel welcome and safe. Additionally the public went on to protest as parent expressed their concerns regarding their children’s safety in Target stores. I believe Target had an important agenda which was poorly executed hence the backlash from the public. Target should have considered if having a family

restroom was a problem before taking a stand on it. Additionally, the organization should listen to the majority of its customers’ concerns before sticking to their decision on the policy.

References

1. Carneglia, K. (2016). In Wake Of Target Stores Controversy, What Are Walmart’s And Other Stores’ Stances On Transgender Bathroom Policies. The Inquisitr News. Retrieved from http://www.inquisitr.com/3060291/in-wake-of-target-stores-controversy-what-are-walmart-and-other-stores-stance-on-transgender-bathroom-policies/
2. Czarnecki, S. (2016). Target emphasizes support for inclusivity with transgender bathroom policy | PR Week. Prweek.com. Retrieved from http://www.prweek.com/article/1392105/target-emphasizes-support-inclusivity-transgender-bathroom-policy
3. Daniels, C. (2016). Marketing to the T: Brands get inclusive of transgender consumers in LGBT marketing | PR Week. Prweek.com. Retrieved from http://www.prweek.com/article/1384780/marketing-t-brands-inclusive-transgender-consumers-lgbt-marketing
4. Huston, W. (2016). Target Management Tells Boycott Group to Expect No Change to Transgender Bathroom Policy - Breitbart. Breitbart. Retrieved from http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/05/14/target-management-tells-boycott-group-no-change-transgender-bathroom-policy/
5. James, D. & Binder, J. (2016). Target Just Issued SICK Response To MASSIVE Boycott, It's WORSE Than We Expected.... AFF. Retrieved from http://www.americasfreedomfighters.com/2016/04/25/target-response-boycott-expected/
6. Mclean, R. (2016). Target takes stand on transgender bathroom controversy. CNNMoney. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/20/news/companies/target-transgender-bathroom-lgbt/
7. Picchi, A. (2016). ?Why Target is taking stand on transgender people and bathrooms. Cbsnews.com. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-target-is-taking-stand-on-transgender-people-and-bathrooms/
8. Spector, N. (2016). Attention Target shoppers: Man epically trolls retailer's gender-neutral critics.TODAY.com. Retrieved 3 August 2016, from http://www.today.com/money/man-posing-target-facebook-replies-outrageously-gender-neutral-critics-t38736
9. Zaimov, S. (2016). Parents Protest Target Stores Nationwide Over Transgender Bathroom Policy.Christian Post. Retrieved from http://www.christianpost.com/news/parents-protest-target-stores-nationwide-over-transgender-bathroom-policy-163581/
10. Zaimov, S. (2016). Target Backlash Over Transgender Bathroom Policy Hits 'Boiling Point,' Business Insider Says. Christian Post. Retrieved from http://www.christianpost.com/news/target-boycott-ransgender-bathroom-policy-hits-boiling-point-business-insider-says-163979/
11. Zaimov, S. (2016). Target CEO Responds to Transgender Bathroom Protests: 'Our Focus on Safety Is Unwavering'. Christian Post. Retrieved from http://www.christianpost.com/news/target-ceo-responds-to-transgender-bathroom-protests-our-focus-on-safety-is-unwavering-163786/
12. Zaimov, S. (2016). Target Stock Prices Plummet After 1 Million-Strong Boycott Over Transgender Bathroom Policy. Christian Post. Retrieved from http://www.christianpost.com/news/target-stock-prices-plummet-1-million-strong-boycott-transgender-bathroom-policy-163160/