Nevertheless, in an email to AFA supporters the day after his visit to Target's headquarters, Wildmon pledged to dig his heels in and gather even more signatures pledging to boycott:

"Target's dangerous dressing and bathroom policy poses a threat to women and children. Over 1 million people agree with us and have signed the pledge to boycott Target stores until protecting women and children is a priority.

"Yesterday afternoon, with your boycott pledge in hand, I personally delivered it to Target headquarters in Minneapolis, MN. I met face-to-face with Target executives and spoke to them on your behalf, urging them to end this boycott by protecting women and children in their stores.

"I offered a common-sense approach and a reasonable solution to the issue of transgendered customers: a unisex bathroom. Target should keep separate facilities for men and women, but for the trans community and for those who simply like using the bathroom alone, a single occupancy unisex option should be provided.

"Target representatives were gracious and respectful, but sadly, they rejected our offer. They repeated what Target CEO and Chairman Brian Cornell said yesterday during an interview on CNBC, `We're going to continue to embrace our belief in diversity and inclusion...,' code-words for sticking with its dangerous policy of allowing men use women's dressing and bathrooms.

"For that reason, I will work even harder to promote the boycott going forward...and I need your help to reach TWO MILLION boycott signatures."

Corporations and the Christian Right

The Daily Beast's Jay Michaelson recently suggested (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/11/transgender-righ ts-pit-corporations-vs-conservatives.html) that "The Republican-led crackdown on transgender equality is pitting two traditional allies against each other: corporations versus conservatives."

Longtime allies, big business and the Christian Right appear to be moving in different directions on LGBT issues. While groups like the AFA are continuing its anti-gay fulminating, numerous corporations have spoken out against anti-gay and anti-transgender laws. In North Carolina, such companies as Dow Chemical, PayPal, the National Basketball Association, Google, Apple, IBM, Bayer, and Salesforce, "have lined up against North Carolina's Republican-sponsored anti-trans law (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/03/24/north-carolina-l gbt-rights-wiped-out-with-lie-that-boys-could-use-girls-bathrooms .html).

According to Michaelson, companies are lining up in support of LGBT equality largely because of ... well ... "money."

He spelled out four reasons for LGBT-inclusive policies:

"First, gays are big consumers, and tend to be brand loyal: a 2011 study showed that 87 percent of LGBT adults said they'd consider switching to a brand that provided equal workplace benefits. ... Second, ... LGBT people represent around 5 percent of the workforce, and large corporations are constantly in need of educated, capable employees. ... Third, diversity, itself, has been shown to improve overall performance. According to studies by Forbes, McKinsey, and Harvard Business School--not exactly the Rainbow Alliance--diversity in the workplace correlates with higher rates of innovation, growth, and creativity. ... Fourth and finally, a variety of studies have quantified the cost of exclusion. According to 2015 data, more than 40 percent of gay and 90 percent of trans people have experienced employment discrimination, harassment, or mistreatment. That stress, turnover, and discord costs money: One study calculated the total amount of lost labor, productivity and efficiency at $9 billion across the entire U.S. economy."

Target moving on

While the anti-gay American Family Association - named as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center -- is looking at fundraising opportunities galore, Target officials are looking toward the future, and one of its major targets are urban neighborhoods.

As fortune.com recently reported, the company "has recruited yogurt maker Chobani to help build buzz around its upcoming smaller store in Lower Manhattan in what will be the biggest test so far of the urban format it has been testing for a few years."

The new partnership will be housed in Target's 45,000-square-foot store, set to open in Tribeca near the World Trade Center in October. It "will house a Chobani café that will offer Mediterranean-themed sandwiches, salads, and Greek yogurt dishes."  

As for the AFA's claim, picked up by several right-wing news outlets, that the boycott has hurt Target's stock price, Snopes.com has an interesting an nuanced take: "WHAT'S TRUE: A dip in Target's stock price occurred around the same time as a boycott against the store's transgender bathroom policy. WHAT'S FALSE: A dip in Target's stock price was not unusual, nor was it directly related to the boycott (http://www.snopes.com/target-stock-boycott/).