In May 2023, Target became the (for lack of a better word) target of right-wing outrage when it launched its annual Pride Month collection. The merchandise featured clothing items for transgender customers, including T-shirts with slogans like "Trans People Will Always Exist!" and "Cure Transphobia, Not Trans People."
Anti-LGBTQ groups and conservative activists fueled the backlash against the retailer, spreading misinformation — for instance, that Target was marketing a product to children that was meant for transgender adults — and organizing boycotts that quickly escalated into people harassing and threatening store employees.
Now Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier has filed suit, alleging the retailer of "not properly disclosing to investors the risk" of its "offensive" 2023 LGBTQ Pride campaign, ultimately causing the retailer's stock price to plummet.
In a 163-page lawsuit filed in federal court last week, the State Board of Administration, which manages Florida’s pension fund and other investments, alleges that Target — which it describes as the "self-proclaimed store of the 'boomer mom who drives a minivan and lives in the suburbs'" — "betrayed" its core customer base of "working families and investors" by "making false and misleading statements about Target’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) mandates that led to its disastrous 2023 children-and-family themed LGBT-Pride campaign."
"The campaign provoked immense consumer backlash and boycotts that caused Target’s sales to fall for the first time in six years and wiped out over $25 billion in Target’s market capitalization — leading Target’s stock to experience its longest losing streak in 23 years," the lawsuit (a PDF of which is attached at the bottom of this story) alleges.
The suit is the latest in a series of GOP-led legal challenges to corporate DEI initiatives. It's also one of at least three similar cases against Target in Florida, according to the Tallahassee Democrat.
As noted in a recent analysis piece by Reason magazine senior editor Elizabeth Nolan Brown, this particular suit against the retailer runs contrary to the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
"You're probably thinking: Wait, doesn't the First Amendment stop the government from doing things like this? Doesn't Target have a First Amendment right to sell goods broadcasting whatever perfectly legal messages it chooses, and don't individual Americans have a First Amendment right to access those messages?" writes Brown. "The answer is a resounding: of course. But Florida authorities don't seem to care, so long as they get to perform concern for children."
In a post on X (the platform formerly known as Twitter, Ari Cohn, lead counsel for tech policy at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), called Florida's lawsuit "asinine, performative buffoonery and an attack on the First Amendment."
In a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) Cohn noted that Florida is objecting to products "based on the messages they convey — all of which are First Amendment–protected, and none of which 'sexualize children.'"1/ This is asinine, performative buffoonery and an attack on the First Amendment
— Ari Cohn (@AriCohn) February 20, 2025
Uthmeier has a problem with products (described in my article linked downthread) based on the messages they convey—all of which are First Amendment-protected, and none of which "sexualize children." https://t.co/2uU2f3Gdge
"It's beyond question that these expressive items are protected, as is Target's decision to sell them," Cohn continued. "That Florida's retirement fund holds shares of Target is irrelevant and meaningless. Government does not gain the power to regulate speech because it's a shareholder."
Added Cohn: "If Florida doesn't like Target's expressive decisions, it can sell its shares. But it can't impose liability."
Formerly chief of staff to Gov. Ron DeSantis, Uthmeier announced the lawsuit against Target just three days into his new job. The governor appointed him to replace Ashley Moody, whom he'd appointed to replace U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio after President Donald Trump tapped Rubio as Secretary of State in his new administration.
