Marks and Spencer has been criticised for refusing to change their policy on trans employees after a “horror” incident that took place in one of their stores. Earlier this year, a biological male employee offered to assist a teenage girl in the lingerie section, which left the customer feeling uncomfortable. M&S apologised for the incident.
The 14-year-old’s mother went public with what happened and has discussed it on social media. Using an anonymous account named “Jane Doe,” she thanked author JK Rowling and swimmer Sharron Davies for their support regarding the incident.
The mother also blasted M&S for failing to change their trans policy, which permits staff members to self-identify and work in any part of the store, including female changing rooms.
The incident occurred in March, just weeks before the Supreme Court made a ruling that the word sex in the Equality Act means biological sex rather than self-identified gender.
The mother said she felt it was “completely inappropriate” for her daughter to be approached by a “biological male” in the lingerie section of the store, reports The Telegraph.
In a complaint to the retailer, she said: “Imagine her horror, then, when the person to approach us and ask if we needed help was a transgender ‘woman’, ie, a biological male. This is obviously the case: he is at least 6ft 2in tall… My daughter recoiled, so I politely declined the offer and we left immediately. She was visibly upset and said she felt ‘freaked out’.”
An M&S customer service assistant responded with an apology the following day.
The email read: “Thank you for reaching out to us and sharing your experience. We deeply regret the distress your daughter felt during her visit to our store. We understand how important this milestone is for her, and we are truly sorry that it did not go as you had hoped.”
However, the mother was not satisfied with M&S’s response to this issue, claiming that the company had acknowledged that the “colleague is not female” but that it was “not sufficient to offer just my daughter the protection of not being approached by him.”
She requested that M&S introduce a policy to ensure that transgender staff would not approach young women. But in a new update, the store has revealed it will not be changing its policy.
A M&S spokesperson said: “We want our stores to be inclusive and welcoming for our colleagues and customers. We have written to this customer and explained that our colleagues typically work across all departments in our stores, and customers can always ask the colleague they feel most comfortable with.”