Target says customers may use the bathroom that matches their gender identity

(FOX 11) - Target announced Tuesday that it will allow transgender customers and team members to use the restroom or fitting room that corresponds with their gender identity.

In a statement posted on its website the company said, 'We believe that everyone--every team member, every guest, and every community--deserves to be protected from discrimination, and treated equally.'

The statement goes on to say that the national chain is committed to an inclusive experience in many ways, and the most relevant example for the current conversation is the transgender bathroom issue.

State legislatures around the country have debated proposals that would require people to use the restroom that corresponds with the gender listed on their birth certificate, as opposed to their gender identity.

Civil rights groups have criticized such measures saying they lead to discrimination of LGBT people.

Reaction to the post on Target's website is mixed.

One person wrote "You need to rethink or close your doors."

Another person wrote, "Rock on Target! I will go out of my way to shop with you!"

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