National
Target moves Pride merchandise to back of stores in some Southern states
Customers have confronted employees over items
A spokesperson for Target Corporation confirmed that in some of its locations in semi-rural areas of Georgia, South Carolina and Arkansas have moved Pride merchandise from the front of the stores to backroom areas or deeper into the stores after confrontations and backlash from shoppers.
A source with a Target in Savannah, Ga., who asked not to be identified told the Washington Blade some of those confrontations resulted in displays being knocked over and harsh words exchanged with store retail staff.
Target’s Pride Collection, which was displayed for sale starting on May 1, is comprised of more than 2,000 products, including clothing, books, music and home furnishings. Items include “gender fluid” mugs, “queer all year” calendars and books for children aged 2-8 titled “Bye Bye, Binary,” “Pride 1,2,3” and “I’m not a girl.”
Speaking for the Minneapolis-based retail giant, spokesperson Kayla CastaƱeda noted: “Since introducing this year’s collection, we’ve experienced threats impacting our team members’ sense of safety and wellbeing 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.”
Castaneda related that the company has been celebrating Pride Month for over 10 years, but this year the increased opposition and hostility gave the company pause and led to a decision to pull some of the Pride merchandise.
Jonathan Richie, a senior staff writer for the Dallas Express reported on May 13:
Some groups have denounced the inclusion of LGBTQ apparel for children as inappropriate and an example of corporate propaganda.
Conservative non-profit group Consumersā Research warned that āparents may need to cover their kidās eyes next time theyāre strolling through their local Target.ā
āThe retail store just released a new line of LGBTQ+ merchandise geared toward children and even babies,ā the activist group said. āThis follows longstanding efforts by Target to indoctrinate kids via books titled, āAre You a Boy or Are You a Girl?,ā āThe Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish,ā āIām Not a Girl,ā and more.ā
Gays Against Groomers, a controversial anti-trans group, tweeted:
This is what you will find in the kidās section of @Target. We urge you to take your business elsewhere. They are indoctrinating and grooming them with LGBTQ ideology. It is highly inappropriate and disturbing.
ā Gays Against Groomers (@againstgrmrs) May 10, 2023
We hope there are enough parents out there that understand how⦠pic.twitter.com/8g1UC41zAY
Speaking with Reuters, CastaƱeda said the products Target is withdrawing are being removed from all its U.S. stores and from its website.
While various Pride Collection products are under review, the only ones now being removed are the LGBTQ brand Abprallen, which has come under scrutiny for its association with British designer Eric Carnell. Carnell has faced social media backlash for designing merchandise with images of pentagrams, horned skulls and other Satanic products.
Even in cities like Savannah, which tend to be more progressive in terms of political issues, the source told the Blade that store managers were moving Pride displays to less conspicuous areas to stave off some of the nasty confrontations that has occurred in other stores in Georgia.
Related:
Target sells Satanism and tucking underwear:
Florida
Fla. House passes āAnti-Diversityā bill
Measure could open door to overturning local LGBTQ rights protections
The Florida House of Representatives on March 10 voted 77-37 to approve an āAnti-Diversity in Local Governmentā bill that opponents have called an extreme and sweeping measure that, among other things, could overturn local LGBTQ rights protections.
The House vote came six days after the Florida Senate voted 25-11 to pass the same bill, opening the way to send it to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, who supports the bill and has said he would sign it into law.
Equality Florida, a statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization that opposed the legislation, issued a statement saying the bill āwould ban, repeal, and defundĀ any local government programming, policy, or activity that provides āpreferential treatment or special benefitsā or is designed or implemented with respect to race, color, sex, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or gender identity.ā
The statement added that the bill would also threaten city and county officials with removal from office āfor activities vaguely labeled as DEI,ā with only limited exceptions.
āWritten in broad and ambiguous language, the bill is the most extreme of its kind in the country, creating confusion and fear for local governments that recognize LGBTQ residents and other communities that contribute to strength and vibrancy of Florida cities,ā the group said in a separate statement released on March 10.
The Miami Herald reports that state Sen. Clay Yarborough (R-Jacksonville), the lead sponsor of the bill in the Senate, said he added language to the bill that would allow the city of Orlando to continue to support the Pulse nightclub memorial, a site honoring 49 mostly LGBTQ people killed in the 2016 mass shooting at the LGBTQ nightclub.
But the Equality Florida statement expresses concern that the bill can be used to target LGBTQ programs and protections.
āDebate over the bill made expressly clear that LGBTQ people were a central target of the legislation,ā the groupās statement says. āThe public record, the bill sponsorsā own statements, and hours of legislative debate revealed the animus driving the effort to pressure local governments into pulling back from recognizing or resourcing programs targeting LGBTQ residents and other historically marginalized communities,ā the statement says.
But the statement also notes that following outspoken requests by local officials, sponsors of the bill agreed to several amendments āensuring local governments can continue to permit Pride festivals, even while navigating new restrictions on supporting or promoting them.ā
The statement adds, āFloridaās LGBTQ community knows all too well how to fight back against unjust laws. Just as we did, following the passage of Floridaās notorious āDonāt Say Gay or Transā law, we will fight every step of the way to limit the impact of this legislation, including in the courts.ā
The White House
Trump will refuse to sign voting bill without anti-trans provisions
Measure described as āJim Crow 2.0ā
President Donald Trump said he will refuse to sign any legislation into law unless Congress passes the āSAVE Act,ā pressuring lawmakers to move forward with the controversial voting bill.
In posts on Truth Social and other social media platforms, the 47th president emphasized the importance of Republican lawmakers pushing the legislation through while also using the opportunity to denounce gender-affirming care.
āI, as President, will not sign other Bills until this is passed, AND NOT THE WATERED DOWN VERSION ā GO FOR THE GOLD,ā Trump posted. āMUST SHOW VOTER I.D. & PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP: NO MAIL-IN BALLOTS EXCEPT FOR MILITARY ā ILLNESS, DISABILITY, TRAVEL: NO MEN IN WOMEN’S SPORTS: NO TRANSGENDER MUTILIZATION FOR CHILDREN! DO NOT FAIL!!!ā
The proposed Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require in-person proof of citizenship for anyone seeking to vote in U.S. elections. Trump has also called for the legislation to include a ban on gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, even with parental consent.
āThis is a huge priority for the president. He added on some priorities to the SAVE America Act in recent days, namely, no transgender transition surgeries for minors. We are not gonna tolerate the mutilation of young children in this country. No men in womenās sports,ā White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. āThe president putting all of these priorities together speaks to how common sense they are.ā
The comments mark the first time the White House has publicly confirmed that Trump is pushing to attach anti-trans policies to the SAVE Act.
The bill would also require the removal of undocumented immigrants from existing voter rolls and allow election officials who fail to enforce the proof-of-citizenship requirement to be sued.
It is already illegal for noncitizens to vote in federal elections. Current safeguards include requirements such as providing a Social Security number when registering to vote, cross-checking voter rolls with federal data and, in some states, requiring identification at the polls.
Trump began pushing for the legislation during his State of the Union address last month, where he singled out Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) by name while criticizing the lack of movement on the bill.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has denounced the legislation as āJim Crow 2.0ā and said it has little chance of advancing through the Senate, calling it ādead on arrival.ā
In remarks on the Senate floor, Schumer said āthe SAVE Act includes such extreme voter registration requirements that, if enacted, could disenfranchise 21 million American citizens.ā
Trump has repeatedly used political messaging around trans youth and gender-affirming care as part of broader cultural and policy debates during his presidency ā most recently during his State of the Union address, where he cited the case of Sage Blair, a Virginia teenager whose school allegedly encouraged her to transition without her parents’ consent.
LGBTQ advocates ā including those familiar with Blairās story ā say the situation was far more complex than described and argue that using a single anecdote to justify sweeping federal restrictions could place trans people, particularly youth, at greater risk.
Health
Too afraid to leave home: ICEās toll on Latino HIV care
Heightened immigration enforcement in Minneapolis is disrupting treatment
Uncloseted Media published this article on March 3.
This story was produced in collaboration with Rewire News Group, a nonprofit publication reporting on reproductive and sexual health, rights and justice.
This story was produced with the support of MISTR, a telehealth platform offering free online access to PrEP, DoxyPEP, STI testing, Hepatitis C testing and treatment and long-term HIV care across the U.S. MISTR did not have any editorial input into the content of this story.
By SAM DONNDELINGER and CAMERON OAKES | For two weeks, AlbĆ© Sanchez didnāt leave their house in South Minneapolis.
ā[I was] forced into survival mode,ā Sanchez told Uncloseted Media and Rewire News Group (RNG). āI felt like there was an invisible wall [to the outside world] that I couldnāt cross unless I really wanted to put myself in a place where there was a chance that I might not be able to come back.ā
Queer and Mexican American, Sanchez was afraid of being targeted by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in their neighborhood, even though they are a U.S. citizen.
āEvery day is a risk,ā they say, adding that even if they have paperwork, if they fit the profile, they are a target, making it scary to go even to work or the grocery store.
Sanchez, a 30-year-old sexual health care educator, has been taking oral PrEP, the daily preventive medication for HIV, for over a decade. But the mounting stress of ICE raids has made it harder to keep up with dosing.
āA missed dose here and there pushed me to make the appointment [for something more sustainable],ā they say.
Sanchez says they felt like somebody would have their back at their local clinic. It was only a 10-minute drive from where they worked, they knew its staff from previous visits and community outreach, and they could count on finding Spanish-speaking staff and providers of Latino heritage. But not everybody has had that same experience accessing care.
Since ICEās Operation Metro Surge began in early December, an increasing number of Latino patients in Minnesota are delaying or canceling what can be lifesaving care for the prevention and treatment of HIV.
These findings are particularly alarming for Latino communities, who, as of 2023, areĀ 72 percent more likelyĀ than the general U.S. population to be diagnosed with HIV. And while overall infections have decreased, cases among Latinos increased byĀ 24 percent between 2010 and 2022.
āIām very concerned that there is going to be a sharp uptick in transmission,ā says Alex Palacios, a community health specialist in the Minneapolis area.
In a January 2026 declaration as part of a lawsuit seeking to end Operation Metro Surge in the days following Renee Nicole Goodās killing, the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Health said HIV testing among Latino populations has ādropped dramaticallyā and that āalthough grantee staff continue to go into the community to promote and provide testing, people are not showing up.ā
Local clinics are reporting the same thing. The Aliveness Project, a community wellness center in Minneapolis specializing in HIV care, told Uncloseted Media and RNG they have seen more than a 50 percent decrease in new clients. The clinic serves a large number of Latino and undocumented clients, and while it usually sees 750 people walk through their door each week, according to providers, it reported seeing 100 fewer people each week since December.
Red Door, Minnesotaās largest STI and HIV clinic, has had a āmodest uptickā in no-shows and missed appointments since December.
What happens when treatment stops
Today, there are multiple medications available that work to prevent HIV and dozens that treat it once a person tests positive. Many people who consistently take their medication have such low levels of the virus that they canāt transmit it through sex. But becoming undetectable requires patients to stay on their medication; otherwise, the virus replicates and mutates, weakening the immune system and increasing the risk of life-threatening infections.
āIf patients arenāt on their medicines consistently, HIV can learn about the medication and becomeĀ resistant to them. When this happens, theĀ medicine will not workĀ for the patient, and the new resistant virus could potentially be passed on to others,ā says George Froehle, a physician assistant and provider at Aliveness Project. āMedication adherence is one of the most important aspects of HIV care.ā
To maintain care and prevent dangerous, untreatable strains from spreading in Minnesota, providers at Aliveness Project have begun delivering medication to patients when possible, offering telehealth when they can, and pausing routine lab work to limit in-person appointments.
āThe most important thing we can do from a public health perspective is to keep people undetectable so they donāt transmit HIV,ā Froehle says, adding that providers in other cities targeted by ICE will need to make plans for missed injection visits, pivot to telehealth and prepare their teams for the ātrauma that can occur.ā
Sanchez understands the risks of inconsistent treatment, which is why they opted for the injectable preventative medication.
āI have a lot of risk [to HIV in my community],ā Sanchez says. āWith so much uncertainty about the future and whether HIV care will remain stable, I realized I couldnāt let this opportunity pass.ā
But injectable HIV treatments are commonly dosed at two weeks to six months apart, and the medication must be administered in a clinic ā a setting many patients are avoiding, according to providers.
āThey have a two-week windowā to get their shots, according to Froehle, who added that because patients are afraid to come in person, they have had to transition people off of their injectable HIV treatments. This has caused patients to return to oral HIV treatments without the testing they would normally receive had ICE not been in Minneapolis. ā[Oral treatments] werenāt super successful [for these patients] to begin with and thatās why they were on injectables.ā
Oral HIV medications, too, must be taken consistently to work. In response, providers have urged patients to have their pills with them at all times in case they get deported or detained.
The caution is not unfounded. Federal immigration facilities have aĀ historyĀ of denying adequate medical care to people living with HIV,Ā despite internal standards that require them to comply. Since 2025, at least two men living with HIV have been denied access to their medication in a Brooklyn jail,Ā according to lawsuits obtained by THE CITY.Ā One man said he was only given his medication after his lips broke open and he developed an open pustule on his leg. And in January 2025, anotherĀ man diedĀ of HIV complications while in ICE custody in Arizona.
Beyond being detained without proper medication, patients are at risk of being deported to countries with limited access to HIV care, likeĀ HondurasĀ andĀ Venezuela, experts say.
āA lot of men [from Venezuela] told me they left because it wasnāt safe to be gay there and because they struggled to access HIV care,ā says Froehle. āItās a little heartbreaking to see new folks not only face the threat of deportation, but to places where they didnāt feel safe medically or identity-wise.ā
āSome of these patients will die in their home country,ā says Anna Person, the chair of the HIV Medicine Association. āItās a death sentence.ā
A ācascading disasterā
While ICEās presence is threatening the infrastructure of HIV care that Minneapolis has built over decades, experts say there has always been a blind spot in HIV care for the cityās Latino community.
Vincent Guilamo-Ramos, executive director of the Institute for Policy Solutions at the Johns Hopkins University of Nursing, describes HIV in Latino communities as a ācascading disaster,ā the result of years of compounding inequities.
āThereās been an invisible crisis among Latinos that hasnāt gotten traction,ā he says. āThe numbers have consistently gone up in terms of new infections, while nationally theyāve gone down. ⦠That should be a big alarm.ā
Numbers are rising because structural barriers and stigma are preventing Latinos from receiving care. A 2022 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that between 2018 and 2020, nearly 1 in 4 Hispanic people living with HIV reported experiencing discrimination in health care settings. Lack of representation among providers, language barriers and deep-rooted medical mistrust further complicate access to care, according to Guilamo-Ramos.
Beyond the medical system, stigma within Latino communities can be equally damaging. According to Human Rights Campaign data, more than 78 percent of Latino LGBTQ youth reported experiencing homophobia or transphobia within the Latino community in 2024.
Sanchez agrees that stigma and bias are already massive barriers to care, citing the strict gender norms and Catholic beliefs many Latino communities hold. They say ICEās presence is threatening already delicate access to HIV care.
āThis has caused so much damage to people,ā Sanchez says. āNot being able to access your health care appointments is such a stab in the side. ⦠Being able to navigate any of these things in normal circumstances already has so much difficulty to it.ā
Palacios, who is Afro-Latine and living with HIV, says the heightened ICE presence is worsening barriers that have long undermined the Latino communityās access to HIV care.
āThe horizon has always been stark and dim,ā they say. āAnd this just feels like one more thing to address and to fight back against.ā
Sliding backwards
Navigating HIV care is becoming more difficult across the board, as the federal government has decimated HIV funding, compromising decades of progress made in the fight against the virus since Donald Trump retook office just over a year ago.
In February 2026, three months into Operation Metro Surge, the Trump-Vance administration proposed slashing $600 million in HIV-related grants, targeting four blue states, including $42 million forĀ Minnesota programs. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the cuts.
āThis would completely decimate and gut all of our HIV prevention,ā says Dylan Boyer, director of development at Aliveness Project. āThatās the reality that we live in.ā
āWe have all the tools, and yet we are staring down this rollback of infrastructure and research dollars, prevention efforts, treatment efforts, that are going to put us squarely back in the 1980s,ā says Person, a national HIV expert who grew up in Minnesota. ā[There] seems to be no other rationale for that besides cruelty, to be quite frank, since thereās no scientific reason for it.ā
Repair and representation
Jenny Harding, director of advancement at a Minneapolis-area supportive housing program for people living with HIV, says thatĀ while ICEās presence is lessening in the Twin Cities, the ādamage is done.ā
Person says that this mending will take time, especially between the medical community and patients, since HIV providers can have a āvery fragileā relationship with their clients.
āIt takes, sometimes, years to build that level of trust. And I do worry that folks are just going to say, āI donāt feel safe here anymore. The system does not have my best interest at heart, and Iām not coming back,āā she says. āThis is not something that you can flip a switch and everything will go back to normal.ā
āWe need to hold our federal government accountable, particularly HHS, [and] we need to ensure that HIV funding remains intact,ā Guilamo-Ramos says, adding that in order to lower rates of HIV in the Latino community, there should be more specialized efforts: such as bilingual and culturally aligned health care providers, community-based outreach programs co-located where risk is highest, trust-building initiatives to address medical mistrust, mobile clinics, and targeted programs to re-engage patients who have fallen out of care.
Aliveness Projectās patient numbers have increased in the last few weeks as the ICE operation has waned, but the clinic staff is keeping āa watchful eyeā and is having ādifficulty reaching folks who are understandably scared.ā
āOur biggest focus right now is reconnecting with people through our outreach so no one has a lapse in their HIV medications or prevention care,ā Boyer, of Aliveness Project, says.
For Sanchez, seeing providers who speak Spanish and are of Latin heritage at Aliveness Project built enough trust for them to reach out and make an appointment despite the risks. Sanchez feels optimistic about their new injectable prevention strategy with the support of their clinic.
āThereās many places where you can receive care here in the Twin Cities where you might not see your skin tone. ⦠Thereās still a lot of health care professionals that unfortunately carry bias. ⦠Aliveness is the opposite of that,ā they say. āSeeing that representation and knowing someone has that cultural context of how to meet you in moments of sensitivity, itās crucial.ā
-
Health3 days agoToo afraid to leave home: ICEās toll on Latino HIV care
-
Movies4 days agoIntense doc offers transcendent treatment of queer fetish pioneer
-
Colombia3 days agoClaudia López wins primary in Colombian presidential race
-
The White House2 days agoTrump will refuse to sign voting bill without anti-trans provisions
