There’ve been times in this almost two-year wave of Pride pushback when Americans have to pinch themselves to believe their success. For longtime conservatives, Friday was one of those moments. After building the LGBT bandwagon that other companies hopped on, one of the country’s most unrepentant extremists — Target — finally surrendered on its woke agenda, handing an army of consumer activists one of the most symbolic scalps yet.

For Robby Starbuck, this was no ordinary conquest. People had been taking aim at Target’s iconic bullseye as far back as 2014, when the retailer became the corporate champion of same-sex marriage. Their support led to a chain reaction, providing cover for other major brands to wade into this brave new world of sexual radicalism.

Under the leadership of leftist CEO Brian Cornell, they were one of the first businesses to sign onto legal briefs arguing for the redefinition of marriage, one of the first to open women’s restrooms and fitting rooms to biological men, and — in a move that few shoppers forgave — one of the first to sell chest-binders, packing underwear, and “tuck-friendly swimwear” to confused, trans-identifying kids.

When the firestorms came, and they did after each of these controversial decisions, the company dug in further. At the height of the country’s fury, in May 2023, Cornell had the audacity to declare that his wildly unpopular transgender agenda was “great for our brand.” “It’s the right thing for society,” the tone-deaf executive insisted. From a “diversity” standpoint, he said, “it’s adding value. It’s helping us drive sales, it’s building greater engagement with both our teams and our guests, and those are just the right things for our business today.”

He couldn’t have been more wrong. Outside of Bud Light, no company took a harder hit. From conservative superstars like Allie Beth Stuckey to Senate leaders like Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), the rallying cry seemed almost unanimous: punish Target. And Americans did, leading to a catastrophic dip in stock prices that continues to this day.

On the heels of a particularly dismal earnings report this past November, where Target’s shares tumbled another 22%, analysis Neil Saunders tried to make sense of the grim numbers. “Sales have virtually flatlined and have done so against the backdrop of a very poor prior year,” he said. “And this has occurred during a quarter when multiple banner events — among them, back to school, Halloween, and deal weeks and days — should have helped to drive spending.”

But no holiday could overcome Target’s biggest obstacle — grassroots outrage. Now, more than a decade into this social experiment, headquarters is throwing in the towel. Joining titans like Walmart, McDonalds, Tractor Supply, John Deere, Harley Davidson, Polaris, Indian Motorcycle, Lowe’s, Ford, Coors, Black & Decker, Jack Daniels, DeWalt tools, Craftsman, Caterpillar, Boeing, Toyota, and Nissan, the retailer hopes that relenting on some of its most offensive campaigns will put it back in Americans’ good graces.

Starbuck, who’s been the machine driving this massive sea change, announced the latest bombshell on X Friday. “Recently executives at Target found out I was doing a story on wokeness there. When we learned they were prepared to make changes, we shifted our focus to those changes instead.” He posted a list of moves the company has committed to make, noting, “I have to give their executives credit for making these changes, because it will send shockwaves in certain sectors of corporate America.” Among the major shifts:

“Surveys: Target will no longer participate in the [Human Rights Campaign’s] woke Corporate Equality Index or any other DEI index.

“Products: Target will not market Pride merchandise to kids going forward, this was not in their statement today but confirmed to me by a Target rep via phone today.

“Sponsorships: Target will ‘further evaluate corporate partnerships to ensure they are directly connected to our roadmap for growth’ — you should read this as no sponsoring events that sexualize kids!

“DEI: Target will end their 3 year DEI goals.

“Supplier Diversity: There will be no preferential treatment for diverse suppliers.

“Target will end their Racial Equity Action and Change (REACH) initiatives in 2025.

“ERG’s: Target employee resource groups will be expected to focus on the core business, mentorship and growth, not wokeness.”

In a memo, Target’s Chief Community Impact and Equity Officer Kiera Fernandez explained, “Many years of data, insights, listening and learning have been shaping this next chapter in our strategy,” adding that “it was important to stay in step with the ‘evolving’ external landscape.”

In Minnesota, jaws are already dropping that Target has declined to have a role in the Twin Cities Pride Festival for 2025. “In a post on social media, Twin Cities Pride said they are ‘deeply disappointed in their announcement.’ We are working through what this means for the LGBTQ+ community and the long-standing partnership between Target and our organization” organizers said.

For a business with almost a half-million employees and a market cap of just about $65 billion, these are surprisingly sweeping modifications. Stephen Soukup, author of “The Dictatorship of Woke Capital,” agreed, telling The Washington Stand, “The decision by Target is significant, not just because it adds to the list of large corporations that have agreed to reform or eliminate their DEI offices and policies. Target matters because it is the biggest victory so far for Robby Starbuck and the others who have been working diligently to push back against DEI.”

To be clear, he continued, “I don’t mean that Target is the biggest company by sales or market capitalization. Rather, I mean that Target has a long history of proud and visible left-leaning activism dating back to its management by the Dayton family. Target has been a vocal and prominent supporter of social justice causes and other non-business-related matters for four decades at least. The fact that they have agreed to move past this now demonstrates the potency of the anti-ESG and anti-DEI movements and the ferocity of the preference cascade emerging in American business.”

As Starbuck celebrated, “We’ve now changed policy at companies worth nearly $4 Trillion dollars, with many millions of employees who have better workplace environments as a result. With both Target and Walmart cutting woke policies, Amazon should be increasingly worried about losing market share to them…” While Amazon has promised some course corrections, they’re miniscule compared to Target’s adjustments.

In the meantime, there are additional steps Cornell’s team could take to prove their sincerity to customers. As Target was quick to point out, there will be no DEI job cuts as a result of these moves, and it’s unclear whether the company will still mark Pride Month with its typical racks of adult merchandise. On the shareholder side, expert Scott Shepard pointed out to TWS, there’s plenty of clean-up left to be done.

It’s a good start, he agreed, but the company “still has vast amounts to account to shareholders for. Just how much did it give to partisan extremist organizations that supported radical and tragic procedures on minors without parental consent? Has it stopped all such donations of shareholder assets that violated pretty much all of its clear duties to shareholders? Have Target’s CEO, board, and other duty-bound executives re-paid shareholders for all such donations?” They need to make amends for abandoning their fiduciary responsibility, Shepard urged.

That time may come. For now, Americans should take a minute to stop, admire the power of this movement they’ve built, and pat themselves on the back. No one should be tired of winning.