- Carlos Saavedra, 43, is Target's vice president for brand management and also volunteers as a director at GLSEN
- GLSEN said teachers should keep trans and nonbinary students' gender identities confidential, including from parents
- The backlash to Target's Pride collection comes after Bud Light was boycotted over its partnership with trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney
A marketing executive at Target also serves as the treasurer of a LGBT organization which receives millions of dollars from the retailer and advocates allowing trans and nonbinary school students to keep their gender identity secret from parents.
Carlos Saavedra, 43, is Target's vice president for brand management and also volunteers as a director at GLSEN, which supports LGBTQ youth in schools.
Details of Saavedra's role at GLSEN come as Target's donations to the organization were placed under the spotlight following a backlash to the retailer's Pride month range, which includes 'tuck-friendly' women's swimwear.
Target has reportedly donated $2.1 million to GLSEN, whose policies include ensuring school staff should 'ensure that all personally identifiable and medical information relating to transgender and nonbinary students is kept confidential'.
GLSEN's policy said this should include withholding the information from 'parents or guardians... unless the student has authorized such disclosure'. Critics say the policy 'violates [a parents'] right to parent their own children]'.
Target says on its website: 'GLSEN leads the movement in creating affirming, accessible and anti-racist spaces for LGBTQIA+ students. We are proud of 10+ years of collaboration with GLSEN and continue to support their mission.'
Saavedra joined target in July 2019 and was made Vice President, Brand Management in January 2021, according to his LinkedIn page.
His profile says he joined GLSEN as a board member in May 2019 and was elected to the executive committee as treasurer in November 2021.
Saavedra's profile explains the organization's mission is 'helping create safe spaces in schools for LGBTQIA+ students'.
Saavedra was approached for comment.
GLSEN also provides instructions for teachers on how they can make classes such as math and science 'more inclusive of trans and non-binary identities', including using 'they/them' pronouns in lesson plans.
Target lost more than $10billion in market capitalization in the span of 10 days following the backlash.
Prior to the controversy, Target shares were trading at $160.96, giving the retailer a market valuation of roughly $74.3billion.
By the time The New York Stock Exchange closed on Friday, the stock was trading at $138.93 - marking a market valuation of $64.2billion, and loss of $10.1billion.
The backlash to Target's Pride range comes amid an ongoing controversy around Bud Light's decision to use trans influencer Dylan Mulvaney to promote the beer.
Writing for DailyMail.com, a former executive at Anheuser-Busch, which owns Bud Light, explained how 'consumers have no idea that their money may be used as leverage by major financial institutions to influence popular American brands'.