Target's solution to end boycott on transgender restroom policy: Single-toilet restrooms

Retail giant Target, announced last Wednesday that it will use and install single-occupancy toilets to resolve the ongoing boycott they are facing over its transgender comfort room policy. The estimated cost of this "solution" is $20 million.

Cathy Smith, Chief Finance Officer for Target, said to CNN Money that the company decided to expand its restroom facilities and put up single toilets in 1,800 stores nationwide. Only 300 of these stores do not have the added option yet. 

The lockable toilets are primarily for customers (like parents with small children) who want a secure, private place to use. Those who feel more comfortable using a single toilet than the public restrooms currently in place, where anyone of an identified sex can walk in, are welcome to use the added facilities. 

Reports said that by the end of the year, all, except 25 Target stores, will have this option. 

Target spokeswoman Katie Boylan said that the plan was put in motion prior to the store's June shareholders meeting. She expressed that Target is keen on "inclusion" and only wants all customers to feel comfortable.

According to another CNN Money report, Target announced its transgender comfort room policy in mid-April as an "inclusive" marketing strategy. This was Target's corporate stand alongside the waves of legislative debates around the U.S. on toilet use corresponding to one's biological birth. A number of proposed legislative policies were criticized as discriminatory against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

The retail giant said, "Given the specific questions these legislative proposals raised about how we manage our fitting rooms and restrooms, we felt it was important to state our position."

A large-scale boycott ensued after the announcement. The boycott, led by American Family Association (AFA), stated that the policy will grant sexual predators access to their victims posing the question, "Where do you think predators are going to go?" According to AFA, facilities for men and women should be separate and single-occupancy comfort rooms should be an option for the transgender public.

AFA gathered almost 1.4 million signatures petitioning Target to change its restroom policy. The association also claimed that the boycott played a role in Target's reported 7 percent drop in sales and its decreased sales targets for the remainder of the year.

AFA president Tim Wildmon said to One News Now that Target should not let this trend continue. He stated, "We still believe Target doesn't value the safety of families because they've refused to reverse this dangerous policy. Because Target refuses to address our concerns, the boycott will remain. We will continue to direct our supporters away from Target and, as a result, they will shop at other retailers."