Chris Lieberman, FISM News
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Kohl’s is facing major backlash after the retailer joined the growing list of companies promoting LGBTQ-themed items for children.
Over the weekend, the hashtag #Boycottkohls started trending on social media as users posted pictures and videos of various Pride-themed items available at Kohl’s. “Kohl’s is pushing LGBTQ Pride for literal babies,” posted Twitter user End Wokeness, who then added, “Looks like Kohl’s didn’t learn a thing from Bud Lite and Target.”
Kohl’s is pushing LGBTQ Pride for literal babies pic.twitter.com/SzoHSXGp4n
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) May 28, 2023
Items available at the retailer include a “Baby Sonoma Community Pride Bodysuit set” designed for 3-month, 6-month, and 9-month-old children. The outfit depicts a lesbian couple with three kids and a dog. One of the women is holding a Pride flag. One Twitter user posted a picture of the onesie with the quip, “In case you need clothes for your Gay or Trans 3 month old, Kohl’s has you covered.”
Other items include a t-shirt with Minnie Mouse ears that reads, “Belong, believe, be proud,” and one that says, “Ask me my pronouns.”
CALLS FOR A BOYCOTT
In response, many are calling for a boycott, slamming the company for targeting young children with LGBTQ ideology. One Twitter user said, “Advertising sexual identity and sexual preference on an infant is not okay. I’m calling it what it is: Perverse and wrong. #BoycottKohls.”
Several online commentators noted that most major companies offer Pride-themed merchandise, especially during June, which activists have dubbed “LGBTQ Pride Month.” One user tweeted, “Kohls, Burlington, JCP, Macys, Dillard’s, Nordstrom, and the GAP companies will all celebrate Pride month with special clothing lines or are inclusive. Add Pepsi, Coca-Cola, 7-Up, Dr. Pepper, Absolut, Smirnoff … y’all gonna boycott EVERYONE.”
But many fired back, saying the issue was not that the company is selling Pride gear, but that the products are targeting children.
Kohl’s could become the latest company to face significant financial losses after facing backlash for promoting an LGBTQ agenda. Fellow retailer Target saw its stock drop by 14% in 10 days, representing a loss in value of about $10 billion, following a similar campaign that pushed Pride-themed merchandise for infants and young children.
Target has responded to the pushback by moving the Pride collection to the back of some stores and removing some items entirely, saying in a statement,
Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and well-being while at work. Given these volatile circumstances, we are making adjustments to our plans, including removing items that have been at the center of the most significant confrontational behavior. Our focus now is on moving forward with our continuing commitment to the LGBTQIA+ community and standing with them as we celebrate Pride Month and throughout the year.
But while the store and media have blamed conservatives for threatening workers’ safety, it was actually left-wing activists who sent a bomb threat to several Target stores in Ohio and Pennsylvania following the company’s decision to move the Pride collection, according to Cleveland 19 News.
Meanwhile, Bud Light sales dropped 23.3% in April and parent company Anheuser-Busch lost $5 billion in value after the beer company’s disastrous campaign with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.