Pride Targeted

The retail giant Target has offered a Pride collection for over a decade that’s to celebrate Pride Month, which is June. The collection includes products like clothing and books. They did the same thing this year, but then removed Pride displays homophobic troglodytes expressed outrage.

Target issued a statement saying, “For more than a decade, Target has offered an assortment of products aimed at celebrating Pride Month. Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work. 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. Our focus now is on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year.”

Yeah, now they’re standing with the LGBTQIA+ community…quietly because they don’t want to upset too many people.

I totally understand that some companies don’t want to get involved in politics or social causes. I worked for a short while at a music store after I lost my full-time cartooning job in Virginia. The owner was very outspoken with his liberal politics and would engage in debates with friends and regular customers. But when his wife suggested they post my cartoons on their website to brag that I worked there, he refused, saying he liked my cartoons but didn’t want his business to be political. I agreed. He was in the business of selling guitars, not advancing causes. I get that.

But…if you going to take a stand and tie your business to it, then stand firm. Don’t back down. It’s like inviting someone to a party and then disinviting them because another guest doesn’t want them there. You’re not standing with the LGBTQIA+ community by hiding your Pride products in the warehouse.

I understand a business doesn’t want bomb threats. Some “customers” have entered the store to scream at employees and throw the Pride-themed merchandise on the floor. One woman recorded a TikTok video in a Target store last week in which she became angry at seeing a greeting card that read “So Glad You Came Out” and a yellow onesie that said “¡Bien Proud!”

Supporting the LGBTQIA+ community should not be political, but the Right has politicized hate, like in Florida where the “Don’t say gay” law has passed, and in Tennessee where public drag shows have been banned. Now you can’t even put a Pride flag on a beer can without Kid Rock shooting at it.

Those who are boycotting, making threats, and getting upset over Target selling a Pride collection are bigots. What do you care if someone else puts a pride flag on a toddler’s onesie? Why can’t we raise children with open minds instead of hate? Those boycotting Target, and entering the store to scream at people and make hate TikTok videos, are anti-free speech bigots.

If you don’t want to wear a Pride shirt, then don’t buy one. But your efforts to prevent me from buying one at Target is an attack on my freedom of speech. Why can’t I tell someone I’m glad they came out, and do it with a card? Guess what, Kid Rock fans…you don’t have to buy the card.

Seriously, knuckle-dragging homophobic bigoted troglodyte MAGATs, isn’t there a book burning you need to get back to?

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon on this site is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402. I can mail the prints directly to you or if you’re purchasing as a gift, directly to the person you’re gifting.

Notes on my book, Tales From The Trumpster Fire: There are 19 copies of my book in stock, which go for $45.00 each, signed. Also, I have copies of my first book from 1997, Knee-Deep in Mississippi available for $20.00.

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