Twin Cities Pride raises more than $50,000 in 24 hours after ending Target sponsorship
Last week, Target announced that it would back away from many of its diversity goals in a move that was seen as a response to pressure from the incoming Trump Administration.
A memo from the company asserts Target already planned to scrap the programs before President Donald Trump issued an executive order aimed at ending diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the federal government just days earlier.
Nonetheless, the company's move sparked Twin Cities Pride to disinvite the retailer as a sponsor of Minnesota's largest Pride event, which regularly attracts more than 500,000 people to downtown Minneapolis.
Twin Cities Pride then appealed to the public to help with a "Fill the Gap" campaign. It took less than 24 hours to replace the $50,000 it lost by dropping Target as a sponsor. The group has raised more than $70,000 as of 2 p.m. on Jan. 28.
"Your generosity fuels the heart of Twin Cities Pride and supports vital programming like the Rainbow Wardrobe, Artist in Residence, Rainbow Feast, and so much more," Twin Cities Pride wrote on social media. "From all of us at Twin Cities Pride—thank you for standing with us."
Target has been a supporter of LGBTQ+ events, including the support of Twin Cities Pride events, for nearly two decades. However, over the last two years, it has backed away from some of its initiatives. In 2023, it removed many Pride Month items from stores following online complaints and in-store protests from conservative activists. In 2024, it made the decision not to stock Pride items at all of its stores.
In addition to being removed from Twin Cities Pride, many activists have pushed for a boycott of Target. Others, like Ward 9 Minneapolis council member Jason Chavez, have urged shoppers to take their dollars to small and locally owned businesses and grocery stores.
Twin Cities Pride will host its annual festival and parade from June 28–29 at Loring Park in Minneapolis.
Target did not respond to a request for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump's tax law will mostly benefit the rich, while leaving poorer Americans with less, CBO says
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump'stax and spending law will result in less income for the poorest Americans while sending money to the richest, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office reported Monday. The CBO estimates that the 10% of poorest Americans will lose roughly $1,200 a year as they experience restrictions on government programs like Medicaid and food assistance, while the richest 10% of Americans will see their income increase by $13,600 from tax cuts. Overall, American households will see more income from the tax cuts in the legislation, including middle income households, but the largest benefit will go to the top 10% of earners. The CBO's report comes as lawmakers are away from Washington, many taking their messages about the bill to voters. Republicans muscled the legislation — deemed 'the big, beautiful bill' by Trump — through Congress in July. Democrats all vehemently opposed the legislation, warning that its tax cuts and spending priorities would come at the expense of vital government aid programs and a ballooning national debt. 'This really is a big, beautiful bill for billionaires, but for the poor and the working class in this country, you are actually poorer,' said Rep. Brendan Boyle, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, in an MSNBC interview on Monday. Changes to eligibility for government food assistance under the law will impact millions of Americans, the CBO found. Roughly 2.4 million people won't be eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program under new work requirements for many recipients. Low-income Americans could also see their income reduced through further restrictions on food aid and other types of assistance included in the law. Already, more than 10 million Americans are expected to be without health insurance by 2034 due to changes to Medicaid under the law. Republicans were eager to sell the upsides of the legislation — arguing that the tax cuts will spur economic growth — while they are on a monthlong summer break from Washington. But those who have held townhalls in their home districts have often been greeted by an earful from voters and activists. 'Tax the rich,' the crowd in Lincoln, Neb. chanted last week as Republican Rep. Michael Flood attempted to defend the bill. Still, Trump has been undeterred. 'President Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill is putting America First like never before, delivering huge savings for hardworking families, boosting our economy, and securing our borders,' said White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson in a statement last week. Stephen Groves, The Associated Press
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Republicans step up pressure on Democratic lawmakers to return to Texas
By James Oliphant WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Texas Republicans tried on Monday to pressure Democrats to return to the state legislature after their absence again prevented a vote on a redistricting plan favored by President Donald Trump that seeks to add Republican seats in Congress. After House Speaker Dustin Burrows declared there were too few members to conduct business, he said Republicans would move up to Tuesday voting on bills for measures related to floods that killed at least 137 people last month, a bid to persuade Democrats to return. 'The question is simple,' Burrows said. 'Will you be in that chair to vote for these critical disaster-recovery bills, or will you be remembered as the one who did not show up?' Democratic legislators in the Texas House of Representatives fled this month to deny Republicans the quorum necessary to pass the Trump-backed redistricting plan, which is intended to flip five congressional seats in the state from Democrat to Republican. The Democrats have gone to more hospitable states such as California and Illinois, putting them out of reach of Texas' legal maneuvers to force their return. Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other officials have vowed to track down the absent members and step up efforts to remove them from office. Burrows said state Department of Public Safety agents had fanned out to 'every region' of Texas. 'They are set up outside members' homes, conducting surveillance, knocking on doors, calling their phones multiple times of day,' he said. 'So far, no one is home, but the search continues, and it will not stop.' Burrows said he would ask the department to establish a tip line for information about the absent members. California Governor Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who has threatened his own redistricting effort to boost his party, wrote Trump on Monday that California would drop that if Texas ended its redistricting initiative. "You are playing with fire, risking the destabilization of our democracy, while knowing that California can neutralize any gains you hope to make," Newsom told Trump in the letter. "This attempt to rig congressional maps to hold onto power before a single vote is cast in the 2026 election is an affront to American democracy." Newsom said on Friday he will ask voters to approve a ballot measure in November redrawing the state's congressional map in a way likely to create five more Democratic seats. Democrats need to flip only three Republican-held seats to retake the majority in the 435-seat U.S. House next year, so even modest gains for either party via redistricting could prove decisive. If Democrats win the House, they could stymie much of Trump's legislative agenda and pursue multiple investigations into his administration. Texas House Democrats did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Last week, several members argued that Abbott has the authority to release surplus disaster-assistance funds without the legislature's involvement.
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
FACT FOCUS: Trump exaggerates, misstates facts on Washington crime
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Monday that his administration will take over policing the nation's capital city in what the Republican said is an effort to bring down rising crime rates in Washington, D.C. But Trump exaggerated or misstated many of the facts surrounding public safety in Washington, where the crime rate has fallen in recent years, while leaving out much of the context. Here's a closer look at the facts: Statistics rebut Trump's claims about violence crime in Washington TRUMP: 'It's getting worse, not getting better. It's getting worse.' THE FACTS: Statistics published by Washington's Metropolitan Police contradict the president and show violent crime has dropped in Washington since a post-Pandemic peak in 2023. According to the data, homicides, robberies and burglaries are down this year when compared with this time in 2024. Overall, violent crime is down 26% compared with this time a year ago. A recent Department of Justice report shows that violent crime is down 35% since 2023, returning to the previous trend of decreasing crime that puts the district's violent crime rate at its lowest in 30 years. That report shows that when compared to 2023 numbers, homicides are down 32%, armed carjackings are down 53% and assaults with a dangerous weapon are down 27%. The city's statistics have come into question, however, after authorities opened an investigation into allegations that officials altered some of the data to make it look better. But Mayor Muriel Bowser stands by the data and said Trump's portrait of lawlessness is inaccurate. 'We are not experiencing a spike in crime," Bowser said on MSNBC Sunday. "In fact, we're watching our crime numbers go down.' Murders in 2023 in Washington were high, but not the highest ever TRUMP: "Murders in 2023 reached the highest rate, probably ever. They say 25 years, but they don't know what that means because it just goes back 25 years." THE FACTS: In 2023, the District of Columbia recorded 274 murders in a city of about 700,000, its highest number in 20 years. But the city's own crime statistics from the 1970s, 80s and 90s, when the population was smaller, show much higher numbers of homicides. In 1990, for instance, the city reported 498 homicides. The next year saw 509, and 460 in 1992. Decades of statistics on crime in the city is available online. Washington murder rate compared to international capitals TRUMP: 'The murder rate in Washington today is higher than that of Bogota, Colombia, Mexico City. Some of the places that you hear about as being the worst places on Earth, much higher. This is much higher." THE FACTS: It's true, but Trump isn't telling the whole story. Washington does have a higher homicide rate than many other global cities, including some that have historically been considered unsafe by many Americans. But Trump is leaving out important context: the U.S. in general sees higher violent crime rates than many other countries. While Washington is one of America's most dangerous big cities, others have higher crime rates. Trump blames cashless bail for crime without evidence TRUMP : "This dire public safety crisis stems from a public safety crisis that is directly from the abject failures of the city's local leadership. The radical left City Council adopted no cash bail. By the way, every place in the country where you have no cash bail is a disaster." THE FACTS: Data has not determined the impact of cashless bail on crime rates. Studies, many of which focus on recidivism of defendants rather than crime rates, have shown mixed results. A 2024 report published by the Brennan Center for Justice saw 'no statistically significant relationship' between bail reform and crime rates. The nonprofit looked at crime rate data from 2015 through 2021 for 33 cities across the U.S., 22 of which had instituted some type of bail reform. Researchers used a statistical method to determine if crime rates had diverged in those with reforms and those without. Ames Grawert, the report's co-author and senior counsel in the Brennan Center's Justice Program, said this conclusion 'holds true for trends in crime overall or specifically violent crime.' Similarly, a 2023 paper published in the American Economic Journal found no evidence that cash bail helps ensure defendants will show up in court or prevents crime among those who are released while awaiting trial. 'I don't know of any valid studies corroborating the President's claim and would love to know what the Administration offers in support,' Kellen Funk, a professor at Columbia Law School who studies pretrial procedure and bail bonding, told The Associated Press in a July 25 fact check. 'In my professional judgment I'd call the claim demonstrably false and inflammatory.' The Trump administration has cited a 2022 report from the district attorney's office in Yolo County, California, that looked at how a temporary cashless bail system implemented across the state to prevent COVID-19 outbreaks in courts and jails impacted recidivism. It found that out of 595 individuals released between April 2020 and May 2021 under this system, 70.6% were arrested again after they were released. Funk, contacted Monday, noted that Washington D.C. reformed its cash bail system in the 1990s. 'What the President is declaring to be an 'emergency' is a system that has functioned much better than cash-based bail systems for nearly thirty years now, including during the recent historic lows in reported crime in the District,' he said, adding that 'the D.C. bail system has served as a model for bipartisan bail reform efforts in New Jersey and New Mexico over the past decade.' ___ Associated Press writer Melissa Goldin in New York contributed reporting. ___ Find AP Fact Checks here:
