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Canfield couple protest Target bathroom policy
By Bob Jackson
BOARDMAN
A Canfield couple stood along a busy stretch of Boardman-Poland Road on Saturday, protesting what they say is an unsafe bathroom policy at Target stores.
“A lot of people are simply unaware of the policy,” said Monica Williams, 31. “We’re out here targeting people who are headed to Target to do their back-to-school shopping, to get the word out to the ones who don’t know.”
She was referring to Target’s corporate policy of allowing transgender men and women to use the bathrooms and changing rooms of the gender with which they identify in all Target stores. The policy has stirred controversy and spurred the American Family Association to call for a nationwide boycott of Target stores.
Williams and her husband, Julio, 36, who stood near the entrance to Boardman Township Park, are the parents of two young children and were the only ones protesting Saturday in Boardman. The Boardman Target store is located nearby in the Shops At Boardman Park.
“There are only two of us here, but we’ve got a lot of people behind us in prayer and support,” Williams said, noting that similar protests were taking place across the country as part of a movement called “Don’t Target Our Daughters Day.”
“Our main issue isn’t with transgender people – it’s just concern about people who have bad things and harm in mind,” she said. “Our children are too valuable to let them become a target of predators who have been invited into Target’s ladies’ restrooms and fitting rooms.”
Julio Williams said there have been incidents of pedophiles who “abused the policy” across the country.
A manager at the Boardman Target, who identified herself only as Jenna, said there have been customer complaints about the bathroom policy, but there have been no incidents of improper behavior reported. She was unaware of Saturday’s protest.
Likewise, Boardman Township Police Chief Jack Nichols said he has not heard of any problems or issues stemming from the store’s bathroom policy.
“Not one single complaint about anything like that,” Nichols said.
Jenna declined to say whether the Boardman store has noticed a dropoff in business and sales because of the policy.