Justice

Video Trend Shows the Actual Issue with Target's Restroom Policy

April 25th 2016

A recent spat of videos are attacking Target's new policy supporting transgender and gender non-confirming people. Made by straight, cisgender (non-transgender) men, these videos attempt to debunk Target's trans-inclusive restroom stance by suggesting that any cisgender man will be allowed into women's restrooms and fitting rooms. The homemade clips don't catch cisgender men in the act of trying to take advantage of the policy to use women's facilities, however. Instead, they create the situation themselves.

Visiting a Target in St. Petersburg, a Florida man named Andy Park asks a Target employee if he can use the women's restroom by pretending to be a transgender woman, claiming that it's where he "feels comfortable" while recording the interaction with a hidden phone camera:

Park's video isn't the only one to respond to the policy in this way either. Tennessee pastor Greg Locke also released a video Friday evening, which garnered more than 11.5 million views since it was posted. In the video, Locke visits a Mt. Juliet Target and rails against the new policy after he is reportedly told that he could use whichever bathroom he "self-identified with" by an unnamed Target employee at the location.

"Your political correctness has caused you to do something extraordinarily stupid," Locke says to viewers. "Because you're not targeting and being inclusive to transgender people by doing this. They make up 0.3 percent of the population. What you are targeting are perverts, pedophiles, people who are going to hurt our children."

Target announced the new policy supporting transgender and gender non-conforming patrons and staff, releasing a pledge on their website on April 19 to "welcome transgender team members and guests to use the restroom or fitting room facility that corresponds with their gender identity." The inclusive restroom policy was met with support and celebration by some, but has also made the retail chain a target of criticism. This includes a large-scale boycott spearheaded by the American Family Association, a group designated as an anti-LGBT extremist group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

Luckily, not everyone is falling for it.

While some point to such videos as proof that allowing transgender people to safely access appropriate facilities will also allow sexual predators in, this Twitter user cuts right to the heart of the matter:

Well done.

ATTN: has previously debunked the myth that supporting transgender equality will cause an increase in sexual violence against women. In fact, research has shown that the opposite is true. Transgender people are far more likely to experience harassment and violence in public places such as hotels, restaurants, and stores, including more than half of respondents who reported such attacks in a 2011 national survey on trans discrimination.

Despite the looming boycott and the specious videos, Target is still standing by its decision as well. A company representative sent this statement to Mediaite in response to the Florida video:

Thanks for reaching out.

We certainly respect that there are a wide variety of perspectives and opinions. As a company that firmly stands behind what it means to offer our team an inclusive place to work — and our guests an inclusive place to shop – we continue to believe that this is the right thing for Target.

Thanks!

No — thank you, Target.

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