I know a lot of people were alarmed that somebody as pro-gay as Lady GaGa allowed Target to sell exclusive deluxe editions of her upcoming album.  Last election cycle, Target donated money to MN Forward, a group dedicated to electing pro-business Republicans into local office, most of whom (like governor candidate Tom Emmer) were anti-gay. 
They weren’t entirely successful: while Republicans took the state house and senate, staunchly pro-gay Democrat Mark Dayton took the governor’s race.  Target has its main base of operations here in the Twin Cities, and a significant portion of the GLBT community that isn’t employed at Wells Fargo or Best Buy seems to work for Target in some capacity. 

Here’s what GaGa has to say about the partnership:

“That discussion was one of the most intense conversations I’ve ever had in a business meeting.  Part of my deal with Target is that they have to start affiliating themselves with LGBT charity groups and begin to reform and make amends for the mistakes they’ve made in the past…our relationship is hinged upon their reform in the company to support the gay community and to redeem the mistakes they’ve made supporting those [antigay] groups.”

GaGa claims that she met with “the entire executive staff” to discuss the issue.  The Adovcate link doesn’t say exactly with GaGa’s demands on Target are, but the quote is taken from the latest issue of Billboard Magazine, which has GaGa on the cover and a rather extensive interview.  Only portions of the interview seem to be online, since the Billboard web site interview says nothing about Target at all.

GaGa’s latest single, “Born This Way”, is significant in a number of ways. It’s the 1000th number one hit in Billboard’s history, the 19th song to debut at number one, the 3rd biggest selling digital single to date, and the biggest selling digital single of any female artist.  More importantly, it’s the first number one song that uses the word “transgendered” in the lyrics, and one of the most openly pro-GLBT pop hits to ever hit the charts.

Maybe we didn’t give GaGa enough credit. I’m sure Target has a long way to go in most people’s eyes but I think they could be paying attention.

I know the protests got drowned out in the mainstream hysteria coverage that was Election 2010 but it’s possible Target was listening.

Here in Minneapolis, the Target donations got a lot of front page press.  Minneapolis has a significant gay population, and Target has maintained a very strong presence at Twin Cities’ Pride for years (they usually have the biggest and most active booth).  The MN Forward donations hit a lot of us like a sucker punch because it seemed so out of the blue and because Target’s reaction to the controversy was so nonchalant.  The Human Rights Campaign couldn’t get Target to donate money to GLBT charities as an apology, but GaGa could using the only language Target really knows: profit.

My mother has always found GaGa’s music rather interesting, but she became a full-fledged fan because of GaGa’s commitment to cause.  My mother said that she actually began to cry when she saw GaGa recently on Good Morning America talking about her most recent partnership with MAC aimed at helping HIV charities.  Mom was overwhelmed with thoughts of how much GaGa could actually do and because GaGa was so open about discussing things like same-sex rights, HIV prevention, and gender equality (Mom is an old school 60s-style liberal).  There are very few celebrities who put their money where their mouth is, and when your mouth is as carefully watched as GaGa’s, it’s a very powerful thing.

Color me cynical. It’s easy for Target to tell her they will do more now that the elections are over. I’ll be watching next time to see who they donate to.

True, Jason.  I’m just curious what kind of contracts were written up.  THOSE I would like to see.

To be honest, I really don’t like that Lady GaGa and much of the media is letting the public believe that she single-handedly changed Target’s policies, when in fact Target is not promising to abstain from donating to anti-gay candidates going forward.  What they have, is a newly-created policy committee, consisting of their most senior executives, that’s supposed to ensure that they’re being more ‘thoughtful with their decisions.’  But this committee did not come about as a result of Lady GaGa’s business meeting.  I’d be really curious to see the stipulations of her deal with Target, because I’m sort of scratching my head trying to figure out what exactly has changed / is going to change.  I mean, based on what I’ve read, it seems like she could take credit for certain donations that were happening before her business meeting.

Looks like the deal is off:
http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/03/08/Gaga_Dissolves_Deal_With_Target/

Well, there we go. Looks like I was wrong.

I already read some commenters claiming she did it for the publicity it brings to herself, but I think it’s rare for a star to dissolve their relationship with any store and I like she stood up for her beliefs.

Color me confused.  Just under 3 weeks ago both Lady GaGa and Target were speaking as if the deal was still in place, and now a representative for Lady GaGa is saying they mutually agreed to dissolve the partnership “a few weeks ago”...?  Maybe it’s just me, but doesn’t that raise a few questions? 

Presumably the terms were put into writing when she entered into this partnership (otherwise I can’t see Target putting out a press release and the CD for pre-order on their site), so why wasn’t she dissatisfied at the start when there was no promise of reform so far as not donating to anti-gay candidates?  Moreover, how can Target implement the changes she’s claiming to have asked for in a matter of a few days?

Of course I will wait for more details to emerge, but for now this is feeling a bit like backpedaling now that some folks are starting to ask questions.