Trolls Take Aim at Target over Trans-Themed Pride Apparel
"Target deserves the Bud Light treatment."
The post, from a group that purports to stand against children being "indoctrinated" by the LGBTQ+ community, reflects trolls becoming emboldened by how Bud Light backed away from trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney after a slew of social media hate posts filled with violent imagery.
UK newspaper the Daily Mail reported on right-wing group Gays Against Groomers encouraging a boycott against Target in a tweet that included photos of Pride-themed apparel, including a shirt emblazoned with the slogan "Trans People Will Always Exist."
"This is what you will find in the kid's section of @Target," the post, from a group called Gays Against Groomers, seethed.
The post added: "The only thing these people understand is money. Target deserves the Bud Light treatment. We will work to put the pressure on them."
"Target has supported Pride — celebrated throughout the month of June — every year since 2013," the Daily Mail noted.
"This year's collection features a range of clothes and home goods, including lime green adult romper suits with the word 'gay' on the back; a 'Live Laugh Lesbian' t-shirt; and a mug emblazoned with the words: 'Gender Fluid'," the newspaper added.
"It was the collection for children, however, that sparked anger," or, at least, a call from Gays Against Groomers for a boycott of Target.
"The group, founded last year in Wisconsin by Jaimee Michell, says it lobbies 'against the sexualization, indoctrination and medicalization of children under the guise of 'LGBTQIA+'," the Mail recounted.
"Critics, including the left-wing watchdog Media Matters, pointed out that Michell is a prominent MAGA backer and well-known supporter of the QAnon conspiracy theories, who celebrated the January 6 riot online."
Bud Light found itself the focus of a torrent of homophobic and transphobic social media attacks, some of them featuring disturbing (and, some might contend, inappropriate) imagery of violence, including Kid Rock machine gunning several cases of Bud Light and an anti-LGBTQ+ former Trump campaign operative taking a baseball bat to the product.
Many brands, including beer companies, partner with LGTBQ+ influencers and market to members of the community, and Bud Light has said that its partnership with Mulvaney was only one of many the brand has undertaken to reach a wider share of the market and combat a "fratty" image.
But anti-LGBTQ+ trolls attacked the company relentlessly after Mulvaney shared a video of herself on April 1 with a novelty can of the brew that was printed with her face. The one-of-a-kind can recognized her "365 days of girlhood."
Bud Light's parent company, Anheuser-Busch InBev, put two executives on leave as the brouhaha continued, and CEO Brendan Whitworth stated in a release that "We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer."
The perception that Bud Light was "abandoning" Mulvaney — as well as the trans community and the LGBTQ+ community as a whole — prompted a boycott of Anheuser-Busch products, including among some gay bars.
"AB InBev's stock took a brief hit from the backlash," CBS News reported in late April, though the company bounced back almost immediately.