Evangelist Franklin Graham has called on shareholders of Target to dump their stock — saying the department store's policy regarding the use of its bathrooms by transgender people invites "sexual perverts into their stores."
His plea follows reports of a transgender woman being arrested at a Target store in Utah for allegedly snapping pictures of a teenager in a changing room.
"I told you so, it was just a matter of time. Target is putting their customers at risk — and their shareholders. I wouldn't be surprised if people started dumping their stock, and they should!" Graham, who runs the global ministry of his father Billy Graham, wrote on his Facebook page.
"A transgender person — in this case a man dressed as a woman — went into a Target women's dressing room in Idaho where he began to take pictures of an 18-year-old girl undressing in the stall next to him.
"After the victim's mother confronted him, he ran out the door; but the mother ran after him demanding the pictures be deleted. Target is the one inviting sexual perverts into their stores. Shame on Target, and shame on their CEO & Chairman of the Board Brian Cornell!"
Graham also renewed his request that people boycott Target and linked to an
American Family Association [AFA] website which asks people to sign a pledge not to shop there.
Earlier this year, Target established a policy that transgender customers are welcome to use the bathroom and changing rooms that align with their gender identity. The policy came after North Carolina passed a bill declaring transgenders had to use the bathroom corresponding to the sex they were born with.
The AFA petition, which has collected more than 1.3 million signers, argues that a man who enters Target can now "simply say he 'feels like a woman today' and enter the women's restroom ... even if young girls or women are already in there.
"Target's policy is exactly how sexual predators get access to their victims. And with Target publicly boasting that men can enter women's bathrooms, where do you think predators are going to go?" the AFA petition continues. "Clearly, Target's dangerous new policy poses a danger to wives and daughters."
The AFA said that one "common-sense" solution would be 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," the group says.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.