Target, maybe as a way to gain support from customers or to erase past offenses, is being praised by several leaders of the LGBT community for its recent gay marriage ad, which shows two men holding hands with the words "Be Yourself, Together." It's an advertisement for Target's wedding registry.

Among those to applaud Target's effort was David Badash of The New Civil Rights Movement, who called the ad, which comes on the heels of the company's line of LGBT Pride T-shirts as well as same-sex wedding cards, "kinda awesome."

The Pride T-shirts, however, are sold online only and not in stores.

In 2010, Target Corp. drew criticism from progressives for donating to the campaign of Republican Tom Emmer for governor in Minnesota. Some observers called Emmer the biggest opponent of gay rights in the GOP field that year. The company has been and remains a major sponsor of the Pride festivities in Minneapolis.

Despite being lauded by LGBT groups, Target may face a backlash for the ad, similar to the backlash seen when Oreo unveiled its "gay pride" cookie on its Facebook page last month.

Several anti-Oreo Facebook pages sprouted as a result, and the founder of one writes, "Kraft foods and Oreo cookies have decided to toss the morals that formed our great nation right out the window and literally toss them right down our throat! Boycott Oreo cookies and hit them where it hurts...in the wallet."

The Target ad may have timing on its side, however, since it comes just days amidst the firestorm created by Chick-Fil-A President Dan Cathy's comments supporting that marriage is only between a man and a woman.

He is quoted as saying in an article from the Baptist Press:

"We are very much supportive of the family — the biblical definition of the family unit," Cathy said in article published Monday by the Baptist Press. "We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that."

Chick-fil-A has been under fire from gay rights groups since early 2011, when it was revealed that an independent operator in Pennsylvania supplied food to an event sponsored by a group formed to defeat same-sex marriage initiatives.

There is a Target located in our Midtown Patch at 375 18th Street in Atlantic Station.

You may also be interested in reading: Chick-fil-A Flap not the First Time a Company has run Afoul of Customers

Does a company's stance on gay marriage determine where you'll shop?