OAN’s Brooke Mallory
2:30 PM – Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Target has signed a partner agreement with Abprallen, a clothing brand that offers items with Satanist-themed motifs and focus on LGBTQ+ principles, to produce items for their “PRIDE” collection.
Advertisement
Although Target does not currently carry Abprallen’s Satanism-inspired products, according to an Abprallen social media post, the major retailer had contacted the LGBTQ+ brand less than a year ago to produce pride-related merchandise for their upcoming collection.
However, Target had been previously selling three different Abprallen products at one point. A hoodie with the slogan “Cure Transphobia, Not Trans People,” a messenger bag with the slogan “We Belong Everywhere” across trans-flag colors and planets, and a tote bag with the slogan “Too Queer for Here.”
The items have now been removed from Target’s official website.
“I imagined what it would be like for a younger version of myself to see something more specific, more tailor made than a lacklustre rainbow flag. I wanted to create a range that would embrace younger me and tell him that who he is is more than OK, that being trans is special and wonderful and that the closet is not made for him to thrive in,” stated an Abprallen Instagram caption announcing the Target collaboration.
Abprallen’s owner is a self-described “gay trans man” based in London, England.
The U.K.-based company sells t-shirts, pins, and bumper stickers with slogans like “Satan Respects Pronouns” displaying a pastel-colored Baphomet goat head graphic.
“Satan loves you and respects who you are, you’re important and valuable in this world and you deserve to treat yourself with love and respect. LGBT+ people are so often referred to as being a product of Satan or going against God’s will, so fine. We’ll hang with Satan instead,” the company said in another social media caption. “Satanists don’t actually believe in Satan, he is merely used as a symbol of passion, pride, and liberty. He means to you what you need him to mean. So for me, Satan is hope, compassion, equality, and love.”
“Being called a demon is something I can cope with, and the idea of a trans demon is pretty damn cool, most of my work focuses on gothic or dark and satanic imagery juxtaposed with bright colors and LGBT+ positive messages,” the brand wrote in another post.
Additionally, the company offers goods with statements that condone violence.
Abprallen sells items with the slogans “We Bash Back,” displaying a graphic of mace in the colors of the transgender flag, “Transphobe Collector” showing a skull, and “Homophobe Headrest” with skulls next to a pastel guillotine, in addition to enamel pins with the slogans “Join My Gay Cult,” “Time’s Up For Transphobes,” and “Heteronormativity Is A Plague.”
A “Trans Witches for Abortion” button was also observed to be available for purchase from the Abprallen store.
Following the backlash, Target has not yet responded to any requests for comment.
Rainbow-patterned baby onesies and other pro-LGBTQ+ children’s clothing can be found in the Target “PRIDE” line. A “Live Laugh Lesbian” shirt, a shirt with the words “Homophobia [,] Transphobia Can Be Cured With Education,” and a shirt featuring the image of drag queen Trixie Mattel, who starred in the popular television series RuPaul’s Drag Race, were among the additional items in the Target “PRIDE” collection.
The titles in Target’s “PRIDE” collection of young-adult books include “A Quick and Easy Guide to Sex & Disability,” “Dragging Mason County,” and “If You’re a Drag Queen and You Know It,” “The Rainbow Parade,” “Bye Bye, Binary,” and “The Pronoun Book.”
Many parents are already protesting the major retailer over its mannequin displays of pro-Queer products that have moved to the front of Target’s aisles in a number of stores around the nation.
Conservative commentators have argued that if the roles were reversed and Target had been displaying goods featuring religious themes or conservative talking points, the same customers who are appeased with LGBTQ+ marketing campaign tactics would be outraged, calling the items a “fascist” disregard of the principles of church and state separation.
Stay informed! Receive breaking news blasts directly to your inbox for free. Subscribe here. https://www.oann.com/alerts
Be the first to comment