After big-box retailer Target made headlines by reaffirming its long-standing trans-inclusive restroom policy last month, several other national chains are promising that customers and employees can use the restroom that best matches their gender identity at stores nationwide.
Representatives with Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, and Hudson’s Bay Co. — which operates high-end department stores Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor — all confirmed to USA Today “that employees and customers in their stores are welcome to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with.”
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Bookseller Barnes & Noble told the national paper that as a company, it strives to treat “all employees with dignity and respect.” “For our transgender employees and customers, that means they are allowed to use the bathroom of the gender they identify with,” spokeswoman Mary Ellen Keating told USA Today.
I am so relieved. B&N is the only large bookseller in Bismarck, and I love going to the bookstore. All this actually means is that these companies aren’t interested in instituting Pee Police™. (I keep thinking about Psi Corps in B5. It’s the evil Pee Corps!) That’s a good thing, but a lot of national chains aren’t responding in the same way. They aren’t responding at all. Full Story Here.
I loved Babylon 5! Somewhere, I have VHS recordings of all the episodes. It is a shame that when it was produced that it was not filmed in such a way to make conversion to HD easy (like ST-TNG was).
Sorry to get sidetracked. I hope more companies promote inclusive pee policies to help take a little of the heat off of Target. I don’t think a christian “boycott” would hurt Target in the long run, but I would hate for them to keep getting targeted (no pun intended) by the screaming bigots.
johnson catman @ 1:
Me too! I moved on from my VHS copies to DVDs.
I, too, am glad to see more companies promoting their inclusive policies. But more are needed. Disappointed to see some didn’t respond to inquires.
If a retail giant, like Walmart, went public on the side of being inclusive, and refusing to cater to bigotry, it would really hurt these bigots to the core. That, they wouldn’t be able to ignore, because the customer base is too damn big, and most people who shop Walmart do so because they have no other choice.
I’m glad for any company making a stand, but if it’s all going to be upmarket type companies doing this, the impact is going to stay relatively small.