Reuters reported that after facing a backlash from customers, Target is discontinuing some products from its Pride collection from its stores, claiming it is taking this step to protect the safety of its employees.
More than 2,000 products, such as clothing, books, music, and home furnishings, are available through the Minneapolis-based retailer's Pride collection.
Since introducing this year's collection, Target said, we've experienced threats impacting our team members' sense of safety and wellbeing while at work. We are making changes to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior, it said in a statement.
For more than a decade, Target has been celebrating Pride Month. But this year's collection has caused a rise in confrontations between customers and employees and incidents of Pride merchandise being thrown on the floor, said Kayla Castaneda, a Target spokeswoman.
Target's decision follows a similar customer backlash against brewer Anheuser-Busch's brewery, which promoted its Bud Light beer on social media last month with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.
Castaneda said that Target is discontinuing some Pride products from all its US stores and its website.
While many Pride collection products are under review, Abprallen, the LGBTQ brand, has faced backlash for its association with British designer Erik Carnell, who has faced social media backlash for designing merchandise with images of pentagrams, horned skulls and other Satanic images.
Certain transgender swimsuits and children's merchandise are also being reviewed by Target, but no decision on those products has been made, Castaneda said.
Fox News has also reported that some Target stores in Southern US states are removing Pride-related merchandise from their storefronts.