More than 900,000 people have taken part in signing a petition to boycott the big box retailer and Minnesota-based company Target, tonight.
The outcry comes one week after the company says transgender people can use a store bathroom, and fitting room, that matches their gender identity.
Thousands are taking to social media either in support of the boycott, or in opposition.
In Wisconsin, it has some lawmakers reconsidering similar state proposals that deal with transgender students, and the use of public school bathrooms.
Supporters of the boycott say it's about keeping potential predators out of bathrooms their children use. Meanwhile, LGBTQ advocates say Target's decision is helping educate others, and dispel myths.
The explosion on social media after Target's announcement was immediate, with some vowing to never shop at Target again, and others praising the company's bold choice.
Helen Boyd Kramer is a published author, and gender studies lecturer at Lawrence University.
She says she has worked for, and with, the transgender community for more than 16 years, and that this latest backlash Target is facing comes from an innocent--yet uneducated--place.
"There's the, 'I don't want predators in my bathroom,' which nobody does, of course," says Kramer, "including trans people. People go into bathrooms for the same reason everywhere, which is that they need to pee."
While she appreciates a sudden concern for women and children's safety, she says there are a million ways to ensure that without restricting bathrooms.
"Frankly, most trans people make the decision to be in a bathroom that is more gender appropriate-where they will actually ruffle fewer feathers," says Kramer. "Believe me, there's going to be more upset that she's in the men's room than if she would just use the ladies' room," she adds, referring to a hypothetical situation where a transgender woman (born a man) is forced to enter a men's public bathroom.
The bathroom debate isn't new to Wisconsin, either.
Republican State Representative Jesse Kremer authored a bill last year that would keep public school students in the bathroom that matched their birth certificate.
He says the bill would actually allow for more protections against transgender students than the current status quo.
"If there was a kid who said, 'hey, I'm not comfortable using the boy's bathroom,' he could go to the school district, ask for a different accommodation, and they would give it to him," says Kremer. "They would have to give it to him under my bill."
He says the bill, which failed to move forward in 2016's legislative session, wouldn't have affected private companies, like Target.
Rep. Kremer also says Target's choice, in the end, is their own as a private company.
"And if they don't care that they turn off half their customers, so be it," adds Kremer.
But Rep. Kremer also says he could see Wisconsin push for a broader bathroom restriction bill in the coming months.
On Wednesday, Rep. Kremer told NBC26 he expects to reintroduce a bigger version of the bill next year, focusing on all public places, and restrooms.
Meanwhile, Boyd Kramer says the best way to educate oneself on the realities of the transgender community is through reaching out, and getting to know someone who identifies as such.
You can find the Target boycott petition here.
