What People Are Commenting
Boycott Target over
Its Transgender Bathroom Policy
The opinions expressed in this section - What People Are Commenting - do not necessarily express those of TIA
______________________
______________________
Protest covered by local and national media
June 10 2016
On Wednesday, June 8, 2016 the national Target store chain held its annual stockholders’ meeting in Costa Mesa, California. Target’s stockholders from around the world were there.
California MassResistance was also there, protesting with signs and bullhorns. We felt that the shareholders -- the ultimate decision makers -- needed to hear the outrage from people across America.
As everyone knows, the Target chain has implemented a radical "transgender" bathroom policy. They now let men into women's (and girls') changing rooms and restrooms! It's being done to please the radical LGBT political movement.
Watch our VIDEO: Targeting the Target shareholders! (1 min 6 sec)
Over 1.3 million people have signed a petition (at American Family Association) expressing their outrage and stating that they will boycott their stores. Since the boycott started, Target’s stock has plummeted from $82 a share to $68. But Target management refuses to change this policy. California MassResistance was there at the stockholder meeting with a reminder.
Outside the meeting
The meeting was held in a theater inside the Segerstrom Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Costa Mesa. There were Sheriff’s deputies and other private security guards outside the complex. The deputies did not bother the protesters at all. However, the security people did their best to intimidate and chase away the protesters.
But that didn’t stop our people. As shareholders in cars and on foot came into the complex, they were met by a very energetic group of California MassResistance activists.
As California MassResistance director Arthur Schaper said,
I arrived an hour and a half before the meeting, which was called for 9:00 am. One of the security staff immediately tried to scare me off, but after demonstrating previously with fellow activists, I know my rights, which include the right to peacefully assemble.
Shareholders from all over the world came to Costa Mesa. And California MassResistance was ready for them. Concerned citizens came from Torrance, San Bernardino, Orange, Westminster, and even as far away as Apple Valley. Their message to shareholders: Target must rescind the destructive and immoral trans bathroom and fitting room policies, or prepare for worse profit losses.
Private security again confronted us, informing us that we have to stay off private property. But they could not prevent us from exercising our First Amendment rights on the public sidewalks.
It definitely made an impression that morning. The core California MassResistance group started out with about 20 people. But it later expanded to about 60 people as other groups came and joined us.
As the shareholders came in, the message definitely got out. And the California MassResistance protesters did not hesitate to discuss this with any shareholders who stopped to talk.
A strong message
Interestingly, many of the people from other groups were reticent about talking about the larger “transgender” issue. They just wanted to focus on “men in bathrooms.” This has been a problem across the country, especially with the mainstream pro-family movement. They want to be less “confrontational” and also avoid offending the LGBT movement.
Telling it like it is !
But in our experience, that strategy of “moderation” simply doesn’t work. And worse, it avoids the difficult – and necessary – truth. There is no such thing as a transgender person. It is a sad delusion on the part of the individual, who is being manipulated by LGBT activists.
As Arthur Schaper said,
The transgender agenda is about destroying families, and creating a more oppressive and dangerous society. Transgenderism is a disorder, and more members of our team have grown comfortable stressing both aspects of this perverse movement in corporate America as well as from the federal government.
“Transgenderism” is not a peripheral issue in this battle. It is the main issue. Target is attempting to force a radical and destructive agenda on the public with its “bathroom” policy.
The protest got the attention of the press. A major local newspaper, the Orange County Register, published this article: "Protesters in Costa Mesa urge Target to change transgender-restroom policy."
The fight's not over
But as the LifeSite News report on the shareholders’ meeting notes, despite the plunge in stock price, Target’s management is continuing to dig in their heels on this: Cathy R. Smith, Target’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, said that there has been “no material impact” from Target’s new bathroom policy.
In the month after it announced its new policy, Target stock has dropped significantly. The company has denied any relationship between the public outcry and boycott and its plummeting stock prices.
Obviously, the fight isn’t over. But we’re not done either!
“This protest was very successful. It exceeded our expectations,” said Arthur.