A long-time employee of retailer Target, who is not transgender, is so rattled by the controversy surrounding his employer that he’s speaking out to ABC Action News while shielding his identity.
“For starters, I don’t want to get fired,” he said.
Still, he felt compelled to speak up.
“I want to speak up for the team members, because they’re going to be affected,” he said.
He’s worried about a petition by the American Family Association calling for a boycott of Target, which has now surpassed a million signatures.
The petition comes after Target put out a statement on its website stating that transgender Target employees and shoppers can use the restroom they prefer based on the gender they identify with.
“I agree with Target,” said the employee we spoke to.
A new poll by YouGov BrandIndex shows that people’s perception of Target is taking a hit. It shows the number of people who said they’d consider shopping at Target the next time they needed something from a department store has dropped from 42 percent to 38 percent.
The Target employee we spoke to said he’s concerned for what will happen if too many people actually stop shopping at Target, and he’s curious if the people signing the petition have thought about the repercussions.
“I’m worried that it will cost jobs. I’m wondering if they care about families or they care about families of team members that lose their jobs,” he said.
It’s a concern he’s sharing with us even though he’s heard no discussions of potential layoffs. Target responded to an inquiry about this concern by not answering the question about potential layoffs.
Target would only say via email that it will let the statement on its website do all of the talking on this particular issue.
