Dear target

Dear Target,

I did my homework—I wish you had done yours. According to 2011 findings from the Williams Institute, the transgender population represents about 0.3% of American adults. So let’s do the math: Target has 26 million visitors each month according to your corporate website. Those 26 million visitors are shopping at 1,793 stores—which means you have an average of 14,500 shoppers per month at each store. If we divide that number by 30 (average number of days in a month) that means each store averages about 500 visitors per day. If we multiply that by .003 it equates to 1.5 transgendered people visiting each store per day.  Less than 2 per day per store! That means every Target store in America could have simply built a single “Unisex/Family” bathroom that would be completely private and meant for one person, and there would never be a line! Problem solved.

But I don’t think this is really about meeting people’s needs or being “inclusive” as your press release likes to boast. Rather, a retailer in America has taken it upon itself to promote a particular agenda. You claim this decision was made because you have a “commitment to an inclusive experience.” However, if it was really about “inclusion” you could have easily resolved that problem with a single unisex bathroom—and kept all customers happy and safe. Instead, you have made a decision that just “excluded” millions of people who now feel unsafe in your facility. 

You now have a policy in place that puts my wife and daughter in danger. Part of my job as a husband and father is to protect my family. I take that job very seriously. Your “policy” has put a TARGET on the females in my family. Due to the hazardous nature of your stores we will no longer be shopping at Target. Instead we will shop with retailers that produce quality products and take our personal safety seriously—a retailer that is not caught up in promoting a particular agenda.

This morning I instructed my wife to cancel our REDcard account. Effective immediately we will no longer be shopping at your stores or online. You have the freedom to make any policy you want with your stores. And likewise I have freedom to decide where I will spend my money.

I hope you will keep all of this in mind when you start seeing your sales projections for next quarter. And I also hope you will drop the “inclusive experience” line. We aren’t buying it.

Regards,

Brad Harrub