One Colorado joins Over 200 Leading LGBTQ+ Advocacy Organizations and Allies Calling on Target and Business Community to Reject Coordinated, Extremist Anti-LGBTQ+ Attacks
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Updated: June 5, 2023
Denver, CO – Going into Pride month One Colorado, the state’s leading advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) Coloradans and their families, is proud to join GLAAD, GLSEN, the Human Rights Campaign, National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National LGBTQ Task Force, the National Black Justice Coalition and over 200 leading LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations across the US in calling on the business community to stand up against anti-LGBTQ+ extremists and hate – and we're asking Target to take the lead. Additionally, the coalition stands in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ employees at companies like Target, as well as the designers of Pride merchandise, who have experienced horrendous, unhinged attacks while simply showing up to work. Harassment and threats of violence, anywhere and at any time, against good people just doing their jobs to make a living is completely unacceptable and irrational. As highlighted in the statement below, the coalition has communicated expectations that Target provide necessary security measures for employees’ safety while also showing support for the LGBTQ+ community by denouncing extremists.
The full coalition statement continues:
Recent pushback against businesses such as Anheuser-Busch and Target, blatantly organized by extremist groups, serves as a wake up call for all businesses that support the LGBTQ+ community. We’ve seen this extremist playbook of attacks before. Their goal is clear: to prevent LGBTQ+ inclusion and representation, silence our allies and make our community invisible. These attacks fuel hate against LGBTQ+ people, just as we’ve seen this year with more than 500 anti-LGBTQ+ bills that restrict basic freedoms and aim to erase LGBTQ+ people.Extremist attacks and harassment of businesses for standing in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community and values of diversity, equity and inclusion have challenged Target, and businesses more broadly, to lead – to demonstrate they mean what they say when investing in and standing with LGBTQ+ people, creatives, and organizations. Businesses must continue to lead and respond with unwavering support for LGBTQ+ employees, shareholders, customers, allies – and the broader community. When values of diversity, equity and inclusion are tested, business must defend them unequivocally.Doubling down on your values is not only the right thing to do, it’s good for business. Research shows that if a brand publicly supports and demonstrates a commitment to expanding and protecting LGBTQ+ rights, Americans are 2x more likely to buy or use the brand. Americans ages 18-34 are 5.5x more likely to want to work at a company if it publicly supports and demonstrates a commitment to expanding and protecting LGBTQ+ rights.It isn’t just LGBTQ+ consumers and communities: 70% of non-LGBTQ+ people believe companies should publicly support and include the LGBTQ+ community through practices like hiring, advertising and sponsorships (Accelerating Acceptance, 2023).At this moment, it’s critical that Target champions equity and inclusion as it has for over a decade. Target consistently tops the list for brands that show genuine, authentic support of the LGBTQ+ community through outreach and policies. Target received recognition for outstanding commitment to DEI from the Executive Leadership Council in 2022. It’s time to prove the recognition was earned. When it comes to advancing diversity, equity and inclusion, there is no such thing as neutrality. We're calling on Target to:
- Release a public statement in the next 24 hours reaffirming their commitment to the LGBTQ+ community
- Put Pride merchandise back on the sales floor and online in full
- Ensure safety of team members who are on the front lines
Target, and all businesses, can leverage the support of LGBTQ+ organizations to navigate this hate, so that together, we can let extremists know unequivocally that, just as with every other failed anti-LGBTQ+ campaign of the past, fear will not win.
The following organizations have signed on to the statement:
A Better Balance
AAPI Victory Alliance
Acadiana Queer Collective
Accountable For Equality
Ace and Aro Alliance of Central Ohio
AID UpstateAlaskans Together for Equality
All Under One Roof
LGBT Advocates of Southeastern Idaho
Alliance For Full Acceptance
Amaryllis Counseling
American Atheists
Arizona Trans Youth and Parent Organization
Bans Off Miami
Basic Rights Oregon
Bayard Rustin Center for Social Justice
Black Leaders Organizing for Communities (BLOC)
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Center
Brooklyn Community Pride Center
Capital Pride Alliance
Capitol Area Reentry program Inc
Carolinas CARE Partnership
CASA
CASA in Action
Center for Psychological Growth
Center on Halsted
CenterLink: The Community of LGBTQ Centers
Central Valley Pride
Centre LGBT+City of Milwaukee Equal Rights Commission
Colors+Compass LGBTQ Community Center
Corazón Latino
Dakota OutRight
Delmarva Pride Center
Diverse & Resilient
Diversity Center of Oklahoma Inc.
Eastern PA Trans Equity Project
Emerald Coast Equality
Equality California
Equality Community Center
Equality Delaware
Equality Federation
Equality Illinois
Equality Michigan
Equality NC
Equality New Mexico
Equality New York
Equality Virginia
EqualityMaine
Equitas Health
Fairness Campaign
Fairness West Virginia
FL National Organization for Women
Florida Freedom to Read Project
Florida LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus
Four Corners Rainbow Youth Center
FREE MOM HUGS
Freedom Oklahoma
Freedom Virginia
FreeState Justice
Garden State Equality
Gender Justice
Georgia Equality
GMHC
Grand Forks OUT and Proud
Grand Strand PRIDE
Great Lakes Bay Pride
Greater Orlando NOW
Hamkae Center
Henderson Equality Center
HIGH IMPACTO
Hillsborough County LGBTQ+ Democratic Caucus
HOPE Comm
Unity Center
Houston LGBTQ+ Political Caucus
Hudson Pride Center
Hugh Lane FoundationI Am Human Foundation
inclusion tennessee
Indiana Youth Group (IYG)
Inside Out Youth Services
Institute for LGBT Health and Wellbeing
Interfaith Alliance
Interfaith Alliance of Iowa
InterPride
Japanese American Citizens League
Kaleidoscope Youth Center
Lavender Rights Project
Lexington Pride Center
LGBT Center of Raleigh
LGBT Center of SE Wisconsin
LGBT Community Network
LGBT Detroit
LGBT+ Family & Games
LGBTQ Center OC
LGBTQ Center of the Cape Fear Coast
LGBTQ+ Center of Southern NevadaLive Out Loud
Los Angeles LGBT Center
Louisiana Coalition for Reproductive Freedom
Louisiana Trans Advocates
Make the Road Nevada
Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition
Matthew Shepard Foundation
Milwaukee LGBT Community Center
MoCo Pride Center
Montana Human Rights Network
Muncie OUTreach
LGBTQ+ Center
NAKASEC Action Fund
National Association of Social Workers
National Center for Transgender Equality
National Education Association
National Employment Law Project
National Women's Law Center
NCR LGBTQ+ Dems
NEW Pride Agenda
NMAC
North Dakota Human Rights Coalition
North Las Vegas Equality Center
North San Diego County
LGBTQ Resource Center
NYC Pride
Oklahoma Progress Now
One ColoradoOne In Long Beach, Inc.
One Iowa
one-n-ten
Our Spot
KCOUT
MemphisOutReach
LGBTQ+ Community Center
Outright
VermontPage and Post
PFLAG Greenville
SCPittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents
Plexus LGBTQ & Allied Chamber of Commerce
Point of PridePride at Work -
Rochester Finger Lakes Chapter
Pride Center of Staten Island
Pride Community Center, Inc
Pride Foundation
Prism Counseling & Community Services
PRISM FL, Inc
Project Pride SRQPROMO Missouri
Queer Northshore
Queermunity Collaborative
QUEERSPACE collective
Qweerty Gamers
Rainbow Democrats
Rainbow Rose Center
Real Mama Bears
REPRO Rising Virginia
Resource Center
Rockland County Pride Center
Sacramento LGBT Community Center
Saint Louis Black Pride
SC Black Pride Inc.
Seacoast Outright
Shoals Diversity Center
Silver State Equality
SOJOURN: Southern Jewish Resource Network for Gender and Sexual Diversity
Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation
SPEKTRUM
HealthSpencer Pride, Inc.
St. Louis Queer+ Support Helpline
St. Tammany Library Alliance
Stand with TransStonewall Alliance Of ChicoStonewall Columbus
Sunny Mullarkey Studio
Tennessee Equality Project
The Atlanta Pride Committee
The Center: 7 Rivers LGBTQ Connection
The Freedom Center for Social Justice
The LGBT Center
The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland
The LOFT LGBTQ+ Community Center
the Montrose Center
The Normal Anomaly Initiative, Inc
The Personal Stories Project
The Pride Center at Equality Park
The Sacred Cloth Project
The Spahr Center
Transcend the BinaryTransFamily
Support Services
Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund
Transgender Michigan
Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico
Transgender Resource Education and Enrichment Services-
TREES Inc.
Transinclusive Group
TransOhioTruth Wins Out
UltraViolet
UndocuBlack Network
Uplift Outreach Center
Upstate SC LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce
Uptown Gay and Lesbian Alliance (UGLA)
Us Giving Richmond Connections
Waves Ahead Corp
We Are Family
Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Women's Emergency Network
Women's March
Woodhull Freedom Foundation
YouthSeenZebra
Youth603 Equality
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