After last year’s backlash, Target will cut back on Pride-themed merchandise

Margaret Darby
·2 min read
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Pride month merchandise is displayed at a Target store, May 24, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Target confirmed that it won't be carrying its LGBTQ+ merchandise for Pride month in June 2024 in some stores after the discount retailer received backlash last year for its assortment.
Pride month merchandise is displayed at a Target store, May 24, 2023, in Nashville, Tenn. Target confirmed that it won't be carrying its LGBTQ+ merchandise for Pride month in June 2024 in some stores after the discount retailer received backlash last year for its assortment. | George Walker IV

Target is scaling back on the number of stores selling LGBTQ-themed merchandise during Pride month in June, according to Bloomberg.

The decision comes nearly a year after the company experienced backlash to its 2023 Pride collection. Target has said this year’s plan is based on “guest insights and consumer research,” per The Associated Press.

The retailer will still offer the entire line of Pride merchandise online, but the collection will only be sold in person at roughly half of Target’s 2,000 U.S. stores, Bloomberg reported.

In a press release, Target noted that it will “continue to support LGBTQIA+ organizations year-round, including Human Rights Campaign, Family Equality and more.”

Target has a decade-long history of offering LGBTQ-themed merchandise during Pride month, per USA Today.

Last year, the collection included LGBTQ books for young children such as “Bye Bye Binary,” “Pride 1,2,3″ and “I’m not a girl,” as well as mugs that said “gender fluid” and calendars that said “queer all year,” as the Deseret News previously reported.

The 2023 Pride collection generated a wave of backlash in the form of boycotts, knocked down Pride merchandise displays, threatening posts on social media and confrontation of Target employees, as The Wall Street Journal previously reported.

In light of the backlash, Target pulled some of its Pride items.

“Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work,” a Target spokesperson told NBC News last year.

The statement continued: “Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior.”

This year’s Pride collection will include adult apparel, as well as home, food and beverage items. Pride items were “curated based on consumer feedback,” Target wrote in its press release.

The Target boycott last summer played a role in the retailer’s lower overall sales during the second quarter, Target executives said during earnings calls last year, per USA Today.

“The reaction is a signal for us to pause, adapt and learn so that our future approach to these moments balances celebration, inclusivity and broad-based appeal,” Christina Hennington, Target’s chief growth officer, told analysts in August, per USA Today.