Target Boycott: Conservative Group Slams Rumors of Sending Men Into Women's Bathrooms
The American Family Association, the group that started the boycott Target campaign, is denying reports that it's sending men into women's bathrooms to test the controversial "inclusive" restroom policy.
"There is a false report being circulated on Facebook and by liberal media outlets that AFA has 'encouraged men' to go into women's changing areas or bathrooms at Target. This is completely FALSE," wrote AFA President Tim Wildmon on Tuesday.
"To date we are closing in on 1.2 million people who have signed the Boycott Target Pledge," he added.
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The petition in question criticizes Target's public statement in April that it allows people to choose which bathrooms and dressing rooms they want to go into based on the gender they identify as, rather than their birth sex.
The chain store giant said its decision was made to demonstrate "our commitment to an inclusive experience in many ways," stating: "Everyone deserves to feel like they belong. And you'll always be accepted, respected and welcomed at Target."
AFA has warned that the new policy opens the doors to sexual predators to dress as women and attack children, arguing that the safety of people should not be compromised over political correctness.
Wildmon further stated in a USA Today article: "If we are going to allow individuals to define reality according to their feelings, then Target should allow a 20-year-old to get a senior discount if he self-identifies as a 65-year-old. Would Target accept that self-identity? If not, why not, based on their logic?"
Wildmon further suggested that gender-specific facilities need to be maintained, but unisex options also need to be made available to the transgendered community.
"As someone has recently noted, a transgendered man, for example, who walks past a unisex restroom in order to enter the woman's bathroom is not primarily interested in relieving himself. He wants to make a point," he argued.
As for the news of men entering women's bathrooms in question, Right Wing Watch and several other sites reported on an interview AFA's director of governmental affairs, Sandy Rios, held with Breitbart News Daily, where she is alleged to have said that AFA members are doing such "testing" on purpose, but the conservative group denied the validity of such reports.
The Family Policy Institute of Washington meanwhile reported that the over 1-million-strong petition against Target is having an affect, with the company's stock falling from $84.10 per share on April 19 to roughly $79.36 on Friday, which "would represent a corporate loss of over $2.5 billion," if constant.
The apparent backlash from consumers was also noted by Breitbart News, which said that Target's stock prices "are crashing as the public rebukes the retail giant for ignoring their vigorous protest against mixed-sex changing rooms and bathrooms."
