My Letter to Target CEO

Over the last week Target has been in the news, because the Target Corporation contributed $150,000 to Minnesota Forward, a political action committee that supports Minnesota Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer, an opponent of gay marriage and equal protection for all LGBT people. Your CEO came out and stated that this contribution was made because this candidate stood for creating new jobs. If that is what he believes, than he can donate this money out of his own pocket.

I fully understand Target's policies and support of the LGBT community, but when you get in the middle of politics and donate corporate money to a candidate your internal company policies become irrelevant. Your CEO's statement that this was about job creation sounds good on the surface, but look at where this money will go. Instead of taking this money and funneling it into a campaign that will spend it on TV adds, why not invest in the community around you? That $150,000 that will now go to the TV stations and into Advertising could have gone back to the community you want to help. How many small businesses could have used this money ? How many job’s could this have created, had it not gone to a Political Action Committee?

I can say that until something is done to change this policy I will stop shopping at Target stores. It's unfortunate, as your corporation does so much, but I can't allow my money to end up in the hands of politicians that spew hate and discrimination. I hope that this reaches someone who can do something about this issue.

Regards,
Rick M. Seymour