The transgender “Satanist” designer behind the Pride products that were removed from Target stores criticized the retailer this week for setting a “dangerous precedent.”
“It’s a very dangerous precedent to set, that if people just get riled up enough about the products that you’re selling, you can completely distance yourself from the LGBT community, when and if it’s convenient,” designer Erik Carnell said.
Target initially partnered with U.K.-based Carnell to sell products with pro-LGBTQ messages to celebrate Pride month.
Later it was revealed that Carnell appeared to be an outspoken Satanist whose brand featured occult imagery and messages like “Satan respects pronouns.”
From Fox News:
Target responded to widespread backlash by moving some Pride products to less prominent sections of the store, and removing other merchandise altogether. Carnell, who has claimed the merchandise mentioning Satan is tongue-in-cheek, blasted Target. "If you're going to take a stance and say that you care about the LGBT community, you need to stand by that regardless," Carnell added. Carnell had previously explained in an Instagram post that Satan represents "passion, pride and liberty" and "loves all LGBT+ people."
