See The Pics: Target Discount-Chain Pushing "Gay Marriage"

Two men stand nose-to-nose, holding hands and gazing lovingly into each other's eyes. The caption on the ad reads: "Be yourself, together. Build a Target wedding gift registry as unique as the two of you."

We're having difficulty determining what is more shocking; Target's overt pandering to the "gay community," or the fact that a discount chain like Target even has a Wedding Registry in the first place.

Others are scratching their heads in confusion as well, as they attempt to get their arms around what, in the world, may be motivating Target. The website, RetailCustomerExperience.com advances a theory and then timidly refutes it in the same sentence: "Maybe Target is looking for a little sales lift from the lesbian and gay community, however, it could be alienating its more conservative audience at the same time." "Alienating its more conservative audience?" ... Even a fleeting glance at the most recent polls on the issue clearly indicates that extremely high numbers of Blacks and Hispanics, traditionally not very politically "conservative" groups, also maintain a very strong belief in the age-old concept that marriage is between one man and one woman. While it's very popular among members of the media establishment to advance the fantasy that only "evil conservatives" (and other assorted villains) oppose elevating consensual sodomy to the status of marriage, the reality of the matter is that Target may very well be "alienating" the bulk of its "audience." Peter LaBarbera with Americans for Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) asks what comes very close to being a rhetorical question: "So, once again, American consumers are going to face a choice... Do we patronize a business that celebrates counterfeit marriage, as blasphemous as that is, attaching the noble institution of marriage to homosexuality, or do we take our business elsewhere?" Will the move "alienate" Target's customers? The obvious answer is, of course. One only need ask if it makes sound business sense for a company to risk insulting the majority of its existing customer-base in order to reach-out to a segment of the market that comprises only 1.5 to 2 percent of the total population, and already has a tendency to shop in much more high-end retail establishments. Then again, is it possible that these "Wedding Registry" ads, which have actually been running for some months now, are a one-time foray into bad taste... an isolated incident? Actually, no. Target has reached out to the "gay community" from time to time in years past, but what is particularly disturbing, as of the late, is that the discount-chain's support for the "gay community" has approached a level of outright advocacy. Recently, for example, the discount-chain actually started selling T-shirts in its stores to raise money for a group that is fighting a constitutional amendment in Minnesota that seeks to protect and preserve the traditional definition of marriage. According to Fox News: "The T-shirt promotion will raise up to $120,000 for the Family Equality Council, a Washington-based group that is part of a Minnesota coalition pushing to defeat the constitutional amendment. The $12.99 shirts will be sold on Target's website through June, or while supplies last." However, if you're looking for an answer as to what is behind Target's recent move toward outright advocacy, understand that it is more than likely a desperate plea for "atonement." The homosexual lobby put Target in the cross-hairs (no pun intended) two years ago for making a sizable contribution to an organization backing the conservative candidate for governor in Minnesota, Tom Emmer, who came out in favor of traditional marriage. Fox News again: "Target's move comes two years after it endured a backlash from gay rights supporters for giving $150,000 to a campaign group backing the conservative Republican candidate for Minnesota governor, Tom Emmer, who narrowly lost to Democrat Mark Dayton." And the amount of backlash resulting from Target's donation to the conservative group backing Emmer can't be understated or underestimated. Moreover, the backlash might also serve to illustrate that the gay-lobby is not only non-adverse to employing the tactics of extracting "greenmail" from its victims, but is also tyrannically unyielding in its demand of total and blind loyalty to the more radical aspects of the homosexual agenda. The fact that Target had been "gay-friendly" in years past didn't seem to temper or mitigate the ire over Target's donation to the conservative organization. Total obedience is required and expected... or else. Jennifer Chrisler, the director of ill-named Family Equality Council made a veiled but not-so-subtle allusions to the severity of the backlash when she said: "I know and understand what a big reaction that donation [to the group supporting Emmer] had two years ago, and I think they [Target] have taken steps, serious steps, to show that they understood that reaction." Of course, there is a broader point. Political bullying and the free use of political intimidation tactics have been used freely by the homosexual lobby for quite some time but have gone largely unreported by a liberal media that is sympathetic to the cause. While it goes without saying that Dan Cathy with Chick-fil-A did the American people a huge service by taking a stand for his faith and his 1st Amendment rights, in the end, he may have inadvertently done the public a far greater service. His refusal to bend to the political bullying brought the intimidation tactics of the homosexual lobby into the spotlight, and his stand for his faith and his 1st Amendment rights has alerted the public, finally, to something that has been going on, under the radar, for far too long. While exposing this sad and sorry practice may not have been Cathy's intention, he nonetheless deserves unwavering gratitude from all Americans who despise bullying, intimidation and dirty politics, particularly from those who have the audacity to label themselves "victims."