WASHINGTON: United States retailer Target is removing some goods from its LGBTQ Pride Collection range after threats and confrontations in certain stores.
According to the BBC, the company said the move would protect workers after what it described as “volatile situations” in some 2,000 items shops.
In some states, Target said it had moved Pride Month merchandise to the back of the store.
The 2,000-good range includes rainbow motifs and “love is love” t-shirts.
Other items include “gender fluid” mugs and children’s books titled “Bye Bye, Binary,” “Pride 1,2,3” and “I am not a Girl.”
The company said, “Since introducing this year’s collection, we have experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of protection and well-being while at work.”
“Given these volatile circumstances, we’re adjusting our plans, including removing items at the centre of the most important confrontational behaviour.”
A company spokesperson said there had been an increase in incidents of Pride merchandise being thrown on the floor.
The spokesperson said that the products Target is withdrawing are being removed from all its United States stores and its website.
While various Pride Collection products are under review, the ones being quickly removed are under the Abprallen label, which has been criticised for using pictures of pentagrams, horned skulls and other Satanic visuals.
It comes as brands worldwide find themselves mired in controversy over product ranges that hope to reflect and champion LGBTQ diversity.
In Malaysia, Swatch said authorities confiscated 164 rainbow-coloured watches worth 14,000 dollars, including in the capital Kuala Lumpur last week.
Homosexuality is forbidden in Malaysia, a Muslim-majority Southeast Asian nation. Although enforcement is rare, sodomy can be punished with imprisonment and whipping.
Swatch Group CEO Nick Hayek said, “We strongly contest our collection of watches using rainbow colours and having the message of peace and love could be harmful, and this has nothing political.”
Hayek said, “We wonder how the home ministry’s enforcement unit will confiscate the beautiful natural rainbows that show up thousand times a year in the sky of Malaysia.”
