Target Endorses Same-Sex Marriage to Please Customers?
Target Corp. is no longer neutral on the issue of same-sex marriage. It has added its name to a legal defense of gay marriage, a move that is in line with survey reports showing that a majority of Americans who prefer shopping at the retailer are not opposed to gay and lesbian marriages.
"It is our belief that everyone should be treated equally under the law, and that includes rights we believe individuals should have related to marriage," Target Executive Vice President of Human Resources Jodee Kozlak wrote on the Minneapolis-based company's blog recently.
Target has also filed a brief in a case which combines legal actions in Wisconsin and Indiana, where federal judges have overturned gay marriage bans, according to The Associated Press. State officials have appealed the rulings in the two states, and the case is scheduled for a hearing on Aug. 26 in the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Two years ago, the retailer was not willing to endorse same-sex marriage.
Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder said in July 2012, months before a vote on the Minnesota constitution amendment stating that marriage is legal only between one man and one woman, that the company remains neutral on the issue.
"We recognize that there is a broad range of strongly held views on the MN Marriage amendment," Snyder said at the time. "Consistent with our longstanding support of civic engagement, we strongly encourage our team members to exercise their right to vote in November."
The retailer's move to leave its neutrality on the issue is not surprising though.
In a survey conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based Public Religion Research Institute in 2012, 62 percent of Target shoppers said they favor same-sex marriage. Only 34 percent of Target shoppers said they oppose gay marriage.
Gay rights activists criticized and threatened to boycott Target after it financially supported an organization that backed Republican Tom Emmer, an opponent of same-sex marriage, in the 2010 Minnesota governor's election.
However, Autumn Leva, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota Family Council, warns that Target's move will be counter-productive. "This is a very risky business decision and ultimately the wrong one because it is families that shop at Target," Star Tribune quoted her as saying. "People in Minnesota are still deeply divided on this issue."
The PRRI survey said Target shoppers are about twice (30 percent) as likely as Walmart shoppers (16 percent) to identify as liberal. However, Walmart is still more popular than Target with 48 percent of Americans saying they prefer shopping at Walmart over Target, while 40 percent say Target is their preferred retailer, according to PRRI.
