Man exposes himself at Target bathroom, and Franklin Graham calls for a boycott – again

By Joe Marusak, The Charlotte Observer

Evangelist Franklin Graham called on his followers to boycott Target again after police said a man exposed himself to a girl in the women’s restroom of one of its stores in Chicago.

A Target spokeswoman said the man was drunk when he pushed the girl out of the stall, saying he had to go to the bathroom, exposed himself, and left, Chicago NBC-TV affiliate WMAQ reported about Sunday’s incident.

“At Target, the safety and security of our guests is critically important to us,” the spokeswoman told the station. “Immediately after a guest notified us of this incident, we called law enforcement and provided them with video footage from our store entrance to help with their investigation.”

Graham, however, used the incident to urge his 6.7 million Facebook followers on Tuesday to again boycott Target overs its policy welcoming its transgender workers and customers to use the restroom or fitting room that corresponds with their gender identity.

“Why is anyone shocked?” the North Carolina-based evangelist asked. “Target prides itself in its policy that allows biological men to use women’s restrooms.”

Graham urged people to sign the American Family Association’s online Target boycott pledge and to call the company’s Minneapolis headquarters and post comments on its Facebook page urging it to change its policy.

Franklin’s post has drawn 73,000 tearful and angry-face emojis in support of his call, 17,000 comments and 57,500 shares.

Target has not directly replied to Graham’s latest post but has said its policies are aimed at being inclusive.

In July 2016, Graham renewed his previous call for a boycott of Target after reports that a transgender woman in Idaho was arrested for taking pictures of an 18 year-old woman in one of the retailer’s changing rooms.

Almost a month after North Carolina passed House Bill 2 in March 2016, Target announced its policy welcoming transgender customers to use the bathroom and changing rooms that align with their gender identity.

This article was originally published by The Charlotte Observer.