TRUE PRIDE

Trans Designer Gets Flood of Orders After Target Pulls Pride Line

“I think it was anticipated that there would be pushback, I don’t think anybody anticipated that it would be quite this extreme.”

Transgender designer Erik Carnell was commissioned to create some of Target’s 2023 Pride items, which were pulled from shelves this week amid right-wing backlash. In response, buyers have been flooding to Carnell’s website and Etsy store to support his collection. “Your support during this extremely difficult time means more than I can express,” Carnell wrote on his Etsy page, adding that he had to stop taking new orders due to the spike in volume on his sites. The U.K.-based designer told PinkNews that the collaboration with Target started about a year ago. “I designed a bunch of items, put together a pitch, and we ended up getting a handful of those designs manufactured into pins and bags and tanks tops and a sweatshirt,” he said. But after bigoted threats from anti-LGBTQ+ activists, Target decided to pull Carnell’s merch. “I think it was anticipated that there would be pushback, I don’t think anybody anticipated that it would be quite this extreme,” Carnell said.