Target Sparks Conservative Outrage Over 'Woke' Christmas Ornaments

🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.

Target is facing fresh criticism from conservatives over its Christmas ornaments.

The retailer has a range of Christmas decorations available this year including Santas of various ethnicities in wheelchairs and a toy soldier carrying the LGBTQ+ Pride flag and wearing a rainbow hat. It comes after the company suffered losses when shoppers boycotted Target for stocking Pride month merchandise and transgender friendly swimwear earlier this year.

"Target outdid itself this year for Christmas," @endwokeness wrote on X, formerly Twitter, sharing photos of the ornaments on store shelves.

One person responded to that post with: "Wow just wow. You would think they would have learned from the last time. When will companies finally start to realize it? Go woke, go broke!"

Not everyone agreed with the criticism.

"Being kind to kids with disabilities means being woke now? The far right [thumbs down emoji, trashcan emoji], wrote an X user.

"They had Dracula in a wheel chair for Halloween. I love the fake character outrage. They are all mad of things that don't exist. Santa, Dracula, mermaids," another person said.

A number of corporations have been victim of boycott campaigns this year for their "woke" policies, including collaborating with LGBTQ+ people. Beer brand Bud Light, chocolate company Hershey's and even Fox News faced call for boycotts in 2023.

Target was forced to close some stores after bomb threats were called in and staff assaulted over the outrage Pride Month range in June, including a T-shirt with the slogan "trans people will always exist" and a onesie featuring the words "bien proud" in the colors of the LGBTQ+ Pride flag.

The company announced it would review some products and removed others entirely from its shelves. Target also temporarily closed some stores because the threats were "impacting our team members' sense of safety and wellbeing."

The products reviewed included those aimed at children and swimsuits with the ability to "tuck" genitalia for transgender women.

"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," Target spokesperson Kayla Castaneda said in June.

target store
Target store that is slated for closure on September 29, 2023, in Oakland, California. The company has been slammed for stocking inclusive Christmas ornaments. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images North America

Following the Pride month dilemma, Target also faced backlash in August for stocking a book by New York Times bestselling children's author Eric Geron is called Bye Bye, Binary, which is about a newborn baby who "refuses to conform to the gender binary and instead chooses toys, colors, and clothes that make them happy."

Nonbinary is a term for a person whose "gender identity and/or gender expression as falling outside the binary gender categories of 'man' and 'woman,'" according to LGBTQ+ media advocacy group GLAAD.

While some people slammed the book and Target for selling it, plenty of others left positive reviews on the retailer's website.

Newsweek Logo

fairness meter

fairness meter

Newsweek is committed to journalism that's factual and fair.

Hold us accountable and submit your rating of this article on the meter.

Newsweek is committed to journalism that's factual and fair.

Hold us accountable and submit your rating of this article on the meter.

Click On Meter To Rate This Article

About the writer

Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, newspapers and broadcast, specializing in entertainment, politics, LGBTQ+ and health reporting. Shannon has covered high profile celebrity trials along with industry analysis of all the big trends in media, pop culture and the entertainment business generally. Shannon stories have featured on the cover of the Newsweek magazine and has been published in publications such as, The Guardian, Monocle, The Independent, SBS, ABC, Metro and The Sun. You can get in touch with Shannon by email at s.power@newsweek.com and on X @shannonjpower. Languages: English, Greek, Spanish.



Shannon Power is a Greek-Australian reporter, but now calls London home. They have worked as across three continents in print, ... Read more