Target Flushes Decency

Target Flushes Decency

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

April 28, 2016

Capitulating to one of the smallest global populations, Target Corp., headquartered in Minneapolis, will inevitably cost itself millions of dollars, hundreds of thousands of customers, a drop in its share value, and safety issues for women and young children.

A growing petition already signed by greater than 980,000 people pledging to boycott the second largest discount retailer because of a disastrously moronic decision to allow transgender patrons to opt for the bathroom and changing room “corresponding with their gender identity,” as opposed to the gender gifted to them at birth by G-d.

So, in a country where it is increasingly anything goes, Target has put women and children at risk by giving a green light to any Tom, Dick, and pervert to don a dress and commit any number of heinous acts. But to the good, decent, honorable people of the United States, anything does not go, and men are men, while women are women and the two should use their assigned restrooms and dressing rooms whether in Target, another retail establishment, a restaurant, supermarket, or school.

Similar legislation passed in North Carolina and was signed into law by Governor Pat McCrory (R) as a preemptive strike against an ordinance from being enacted in Charlotte permitting people from choosing bathroom and locker room facilities on a whim of how they feel at the moment.

In response to the Tar Heel State standing up to indecency and supporting the majority of its population, the NCAA, American Airlines, and PayPal have decried the decision as discriminatory and are rethinking conducting business in the state.

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling, now a former ESPN analyst, was fired on April 20 for opining on this issue in favor of North Carolina’s HB2. Schilling noted that to want gender appropriate changing and restroom facilities garners one a label of bigot, homophobe, or worse – death threats.

On Facebook, Schilling posted: “A man is a man no matter what they call themselves. I don’t care what they are, who they sleep with, men’s room was designed for the penis, women’s not so much. Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic.”

Schilling has long been outspoken on numerous issues, taking a conservative stance, for which he remains non-apologetic. Schilling has every right to his opinions while ESPN has a right to relieve him of his duties. Schilling is a principled individual who knew his opinions were in the minority at ESPN and knew his days were probably numbered at the sports network. Schilling should be applauded.

It is vital for principled people like Schilling and those of us who write in support of decency in the United States to not allow those who live a laissez-faire lifestyle to intimidate the overwhelming majority of the people who know that it is common sense for men to use the men’s room and women to use the women’s room without putting anyone in harm’s way.

We live in dangerous times. We are hounded by terrorism both domestically and globally. We have a failing public school system in complete disrepair. We have rising crime rates due to a lack of value placed on human life – including black on black murders and the snuffing out of unborn children via the legalized murder called abortion.

But instead of ignoring what many may not think is a big deal – after all who sees what genitals a person has when they enter a toilet stall or a changing room stall? Just the opposite. I subscribe to what former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani calls the “broken window philosophy.” While replacing and repairing broken windows may not seem a priority, ignoring it makes the neighborhood worse. Ignoring the allowance of bathroom facilities, changing and locker rooms to be open to anyone’s impulse simply sets a dangerous precedence for the perverse to push against the majority of decent, moral Americans.

Call Target at 1-800-440-0680 to politely, yet firmly, express your outrage regarding this decision as well as to inform them of your decision to take your business and hard earned money elsewhere.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.