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In a distressing incident at a Target store in Montana, a transgender couple faced harassment from a man who threw Pride merchandise on the floor while telling them to "enjoy it while you can."
Octavia Jimenez and her non-binary partner, April Dean, were approached by an older white male, who was later escorted out of the store by a Target employee in Missoula.
The incident took place amid Target's controversial decision to remove some LGBT+ merchandise from its stores across the country, claiming it was to protect staff who have faced backlash.
Video footage of the incident was shared on Twitter by user @paulkim, who described the man's actions as destroying a pride display and verbally accosting a trans person.
Recalling the incident, Jimenez, a student at the University of Montana, expressed her thoughts on the man's behavior, describing him as looking "very pathetic" while throwing a temper tantrum. Both Jimenez and Dean, who recently moved to Montana from Texas, were shopping when the man approached them with his unsettling comments and began throwing merchandise on the floor. Dean noted that this anti-transgender stance is not surprising given Republican rhetoric in the Montana legislature. They believed that harassment of elected officials would send a message that such behavior would be tolerated in public.
Jiménez said he would not resort to criminal prosecution and decided not to file a complaint with the police.
Meanwhile, Patriot Takes shared a video showing an alleged "information warfare fan" moving Pride merchandise to the back of a Target store, presumably in Southern California.
This person harassed both employees and customers while making derogatory remarks about the sexual orientation of children.
These incidents highlight the ongoing challenges facing the LGBTQ+ community, especially transgender people, and the importance of promoting inclusive and inclusive societies. They recall that although progress has been made, the battle against discrimination and hatred still remains.