Target refuses to sell Pride-themed onesie to gay couple

A gay couple said they were banned from buying a Pride-themed onesie at a Florida Target for their infant son because employees said the outfit should have been pulled from the shelves.

The kerfuffle came two weeks after the retail giant announced it would pull some LGBTQ-friendly kids clothing from its stores after customer backlash, a decision that has drawn the ire of some 200 advocacy groups.

Michael Hoffacker and Michael Roedel went to the Target in Lake Park, Fla. on Saturday to buy baby formula, diapers and clothes when they spotted the yellow onesie emblazoned with the words “Bien Proud,” WPBF reported. Bien means “good” in Spanish and French.

When the couple took the item — which was complete with a barcode and price tag — to a self-checkout aisle, they received an alert that a store worker was on the way.

“A Target team member walked over and she let us know that that item should have been pulled from the shelves and it had a ‘Do Not Sell’ on it and they would not be able to sell us the item,” Hoffacker told the news outlet.

“I was confident that with the fact that it was there that we would be able to actually purchase it and that I would actually be able to talk one of the managers into selling it to us,” he added.

The manager told the couple, who had their child with them, that they would not be able to buy the item and said they could call an 800-number to plead their case, according to the ABC affiliate.

“We said that that was unreasonable. (The manager) told us if she were to sell us the item, she would probably lose her job,” Hoffacker said.

And when the couple called the company, a rep told them nothing could be done.

“It was a pretty painful and emotional moment,” Hoffacker told the outlet. “I’ve never actually felt restricted from my rights as a gay man through being in college to when I came out until now, I mean this was one of the moments when I felt like I didn’t have the rights that I deserved to have. It was very uncomfortable.”

Roedel said it was “hurtful and it’s infuriating” for the big box store to refuse to sell him merchandise that honors their community.

“Target, in this moment, is wrong. They need to be better and they need to be a better ally in this community and especially in a situation where our family is there, trying to celebrate who we are in a very, very historic and proud, prideful June,” he said.

Hoffacker wrote a letter to Target, including its CEO, calling for the company to reverse its decision to pull some items ahead of Pride month.

“You have a chance to reverse this hurtful decision at the beginning of Pride month. Until I see your company living the mission and values you proclaim to embody, you’ve lost a very loyal customer, my family and countless others I will be sharing this story with. Do better, Target,” the letter states, according to the report.

In a statement about its May 24 decision, the company said: “For more than a decade, Target has offered an assortment of products aimed at celebrating Pride Month. 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,” it said.

Target’s value has sunk more than $15 billion since the Minneapolis-based chain’s controversial LGBTQ-friendly “PRIDE” collection sparked calls for a boycott from conservative groups and lawmakers that compared the clothing line to Bud Light’s controversial partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney.