One Year Later: Transgender Bathroom Policies

One year after Target announced they welcomed transgenders to use the restroom or fitting room of their choice, the results have not been in their favor, including an effective boycott that cost the company millions.

Most concerning with not just this policy but this attitude in our society, is the security and privacy of women and children. The most recent violation happened just over a week ago, according to local news station WBIR:

Wednesday night, a peeping Tom was caught kneeling on the floor of the dressing room area and taking pictures with his cell phone at a West Knoxville Target by a store employee and a woman he tried to photograph.

“I was trying on something and I looked in the mirror and saw something under my door and when I looked I didn’t know what it was and then it moved,” Leigh Hamby told WBIR 10News. …

“I feel so violated. It’s dehumanizing in a sense. That someone feels they can come into my dressing room and take something that doesn’t belong to them. It’s a violating and a humiliating feeling,” said Hamby. …

Unfortunately, feeling violated, dehumanized, and humiliated IS something you have to worry about when proper precautions are not taken.

As the American Family Association – the group that has organized a successful Target boycott signed by almost 1.5 million Americans – points out:

“This is exactly like the examples we’ve been citing for almost a year now of men gaining access to their victims, preying on women and little girls in the bathrooms and changing areas at Target,” says AFA’s Walker Wildmon. “This is exactly why Target should reverse its horrible policy which allows men access to women’s facilities.” …

“Even if there was an attendant there, at the entrance of the changing area, there’s nothing the attendant could do about it,” Wildmon points out. “According to Target’s policy, this man has access to women’s changing rooms and facilities, period.”

Only days before the West Knoxville incident, a young girl was victimized by a peeping Tom taking pictures of her in a changing room outside Chicago.

The Family Research Council lists 25 bathroom or dressing room incidents in the last year.

Leftists defend the bathroom policy by arguing that transgenders aren’t dangerous, but as the Family Research Council says, “It is important to note that the concern is not that transgendered individuals are more likely to be sexual predators, but rather that sexual predators could exploit such laws by posing as transgendered in order to gain access to women and girls.”

And, contrary to liberal claims, this has already happened. Last July I covered a story in Idaho of a transgender “woman” caught taking pictures of a girl trying on bathing suits.

The transgender policy has been devastating for women and children and it’s a small consolation that Target has been hit where it hurts the most – in the pockets.

It was reported this week that Target’s CEO was blindsided by the April 2016 blog post announcing the new transgender policy:

Target CEO Brian Cornell never approved the post and found out about it only after it was published, according to The Wall Street Journal.

He later told colleagues that he wouldn’t have approved the decision to “flaunt” the policy and that the backlash was “self-inflicted,” The Journal reported.

The boycott cost the company millions in lost sales and added expenses. Shopper traffic and same-store sales started sliding for the first time in years after the blog post, and the company was forced to spend $20 million installing single-occupancy bathrooms in all its stores to give critics of the policy more privacy.

Critics of the policy said it opened the door for sexual predators to victimize women and children inside the retailer’s bathrooms, and more than 1.4 million people signed a pledge to stop shopping at Target unless it reversed the policy.

Sales fell nearly 6% in the three quarters after the post compared with the same period last year, and same-store sales have dropped every quarter since the post.

A year later, this provides a cautionary tale of the terrible consequences of allowing transgenders into women’s bathrooms and changing rooms. Unfortunately, the movement for transgender access to women’s rooms has only gained steam in the months since. It is time to stop the madness and put an end to this dangerous practice across the country!

What do you think: Do you boycott stores because of their transgender policy or do you support their policy? Tell us in the comments below!

Alexa is a freelance writer and communications consultant, with experience working on the Hill, at the RNC, and for... More about Alexa

Mentioned in this article: