Minnesota-based Target is selling these Pride Month shirts to support the Family Equality Council.

“Neutrality” is the new buzzword among groups opposed to same-sex marriage. The Family Research Council would prefer Target “take a position of neutrality on the redefinition of marriage” instead of selling Pride Month t-shirts. One Million Moms has called on JC Penney to “remain neutral in the culture war,” rather than include same-sex families in their advertisements. And last week, the National Organization for Marriage sent a vaguely threatening letter to Minnesota’s 50 largest corporations urging them to sit out the debate on the state’s marriage inequality amendment:

As a cultural matter that has little to do with your corporate mission to serve customers, earn profits, and provide good jobs for the people of Minnesota we would request that _____ adopt a neutral stance on the Minnesota marriage amendment. We do not request that you endorse our efforts to protect the age-old definition of what is a marriage, but only that you stay neutral and respect the conscience rights of your customers and employees who are on both sides of the issue.[...]

Wading into a culture war over an issue where _____ has no business interest is to invite public backlash, much like what Starbucks is experiencing in the DumpStarbucks.com campaign, with little upside. Polls have put support for the Minnesota marriage amendment at 56% – higher than polls in North Carolina had support for the marriage amendment there just prior to the 61-39% victory for marriage in that state.[...]

We are carefully watching what _____ will do on this important measure, with the expectation that you will not be engaged on one side or the other. Please let us know if this is not the case.

It’s unclear which poll NOM is referring to, because the latest survey showed the discriminatory measure losing 43-49. Furthermore, the DumpStarbucks threat is a joke — only 44,338 people have pledged to dump Starbucks, whereas nearly 15 times as many people (650,000) eagerly thanked Starbucks for supporting marriage equality. In the weeks after NOM first launched its campaign, the company’s stock climbed significantly in value. Today, Starbucks publicly endorsed marriage equality in Australia, clearly not intimidated by NOM’s paltry protest.

More importantly, there’s no such thing as a “neutral” position that doesn’t still hurt the gay community. The term as used by anti-gay conservatives seems to derive from Minnesota’s largest school district, Anoka-Hennepin, where a “neutrality” policy prevented staff from discussing LGBT issues and thereby created a toxic bullying-ridden climate for gay and trans students. A policy of neutrality is a policy of invisibility, disregard, and shame. NOM’s use of such a red herring is both a sign of the organization’s anti-gay malevolence and desperation for support.

Lastly, NOM’s rationale that supporting marriage equality has “little to do with” corporate missions is simply wrong. Businesses do better when their LGBT employees are treated fairly, because they can recruit and retain more talented staff and market their spirit of inclusion to customers. Minnesota’s businesses should call NOM on its bluff and do what’s right for both their profits and the thousands of same-sex families who might patronize them: embrace equality for all.

It seems that the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins finally got the memo about which LGBT organization Target is supporting with 100 percent of the sales of its LGBT pride month t-shirts. Today, Perkins sent out an “alert” email entitled “Put a bullseye on Target’s funding of left-wing group,” decrying the Family Equality Council for allegedly “shutting down Christian based adoption agencies”:

Minneapolis based mega-retailer, Target Corp. has announced that throughout the month of June (which President Obama has officially declared “Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month”) it will be selling “gay pride” t-shirts with 100 percent of the proceeds to benefit the Family Equality Council, a national pro-homosexual organization bent on eliminating faith-based adoption agencies and redefining marriage throughout the nation.

The Family Equality Council’s clear objective is to pass legislation on the local and national level that would effectively shut down Christian based adoption agencies. We have seen this happen in Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C.[...]

This not-so-fashionable fundraiser shows that Target has its sights set on social engineering. Please sign our petition letting Target know that you want them to take a position of neutrality on the redefinition of marriage and the right of Christian adoption agencies to operate as they have done throughout history.

Perkins’ email is incredibly troubling for numerous reasons, and FRC knows it. The use of “bullseye” is reminiscent of when Sarah Palin used crosshairs to target certain members of Congress, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ), whose staff and supporters were the victims of a deadly shooting last year. Though FRC’s email included “bullseye,” the language was ultimately removed from the online version of the message, but “bullseye” is still evident in the URL (click to see full-size):

Additionally, the entire premise of the email is a lie. What happened in Massachusetts, Illinois, and DC with adoption agencies was voluntary. Religious organizations are completely entitled to discriminate in regards to which couples they allow to adopt. When marriage equality and civil unions become law, the state commits to investing in same-sex families. The agencies that shut down — mostly those run by Catholic Charities — did so completely voluntarily when they refused to stop discriminating when faced with the threat of losing taxpayer subsidies. Faith-based adoption agencies eliminate themselves when they disqualify themselves for public funding.

Perkins’ lambasting of the Family Equality Council as “social engineering” is also disturbing. Just two weeks ago, he accepted an invitation to have dinner with its president Jennifer Chrisler and her family. His only communication about the offer was through CNN, and so far a date has not been set. Given how ill-informed his attacks are, it raises the question of whether he honestly intends to open his heart to Chrisler’s family.

Conservative groups that claim to support families are outraged today that Target has begun selling a series of t-shirts supporting National Pride Month, featuring rainbow designs and messages like, “Love is love,” “Pride,” and “Harmony.” Target has pledged that 100 percent of sales (up to $120,000) will go to benefit the Family Equality Council, which advocates for same-sex couples and their families. But Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council conveniently missed the memo about who Target is supporting, despite the fact it’s on the store’s website and in all other news reports about the special offer:

PERKINS: Target’s slogan is “expect more.” And when it comes to their politics, Americans do. Hello, I’m Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council in Washington, D.C. One of America’s biggest companies isn’t just named Target–it’s becoming one. Starting May 20, the mega-chain’s introducing a new line of same-sex “marriage” merchandise that says, “Love is love.” Target promises to donate 100% of the profits to a national homosexual group–but they don’t specify which one. Retail analyst Britt Beemer says that Target’s strategy isn’t “very smart,” especially in conservative states, where it does the biggest business. “Anytime a retailer gets away from doing what they should be doing by being involved in a social cause, [they] lose.” The company said it wanted to “resonate beyond fashion.” But if they’re looking to resonate with Americans, they ought to try defending marriage. According to voters, the country’s still very opposed to redefining it. Let Target know that its agenda isn’t your style. Log on to target.com, scroll down, and click “Contact Us.”

It seems odd that Perkins is the only person who doesn’t know what organization Target is supporting, but perhaps he simply doesn’t wish to explain why the Family Research Council is at odds with the Family Equality Council. It’s also probably not “very smart” to attack a store for making a business decision in which they are not actually trying to make money. Besides, despite whatever Perkins might spin about state ballot initiatives, polling continues to show that a majority of Americans support marriage equality.

The American Family Association is also angry at Target, but at least Tim Wildmon acknowledged that the store “purposely” chose to “offend” him by “donating cash to support the Family Equality Council’s push for legalizing homosexual marriage.” Given that AFA claims there is a “War on Christmas” because department stores do not feature enough Christmas messaging in December, this new campaign of theirs is arguably a “War on Gays.”

Target faced a large backlash in 2010 when it gave $150,000 to support anti-gay Republican Tom Emmer for governor of Minnesota. Last year, court documents revealed that Target executives have previously expressed concern that they might be perceive as supporting same-sex marriage. The Minnesota-based company has remained neutral on a proposed marriage inequality amendment on the ballot in November.