JK Rowling calls for Marks & Spencer boycott amid media hysteria over ‘trans’ employee

JK Rowling has called for a boycott Marks & Spencer (M&S) after a customer complained that a supposedly ‘trans’ employee approached her and her teenage daughter in the bra section and asked if they needed any help.

Earlier this week, The Telegraph reported that the iconic high street brand – best-known for its products such as Percy Pig and Colin the Caterpillar – had apologised to the mother who shopped in one its stores hoping to get a bra fitting for her 14-year-old daughter.

In the complaint by the anonymous customer, the mother said whilst the staff member was “polite” the interaction was “completely inappropriate” and left her daughter feeling “freaked out”.

Alongside issuing an apology, M&S confirmed the staff member was one who worked across the clothing section and is not an employee who carries out bra fittings, meaning they simply would have just been doing their job asking if customers perusing the clothes need any help.

In response to the anti-trans backlash which has unsurprisingly broken out on social media, Harry Potter author JK Rowling – who is well-known for her contentious views on the rights of trans people – called for a boycott of the chain, citing the outcome of the much criticised UK Supreme Court gender ruling from April.

“It’s time for women to vote with their wallets,” the gender-critical author wrote. “If stores like M&S continue to flout the Supreme Court ruling on women-only spaces, prioritising the wishes of men who want to undress near, or help fit bras on teenage girls, a boycott seems appropriate.”

Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns at gender-critical group Sex Matters, previously condemned the brand in a statement to The Telegraph, saying it needs to “rethink its priorities”.

“This is what happens when a business centres the feelings of men who identify as women, even at the expense of their own customers,” McAnena said.

“It is entirely inappropriate for a man to approach a teenage girl in a lingerie department. Being dressed in women’s clothes doesn’t change that. It’s extraordinary that a man would regard himself as entitled to do such a thing; most men know how unwelcome that would be.

“M&S needs to rethink its priorities and remember that women and girls have rights too, and that this man should not be permitted to hang around in the women’s underwear department as a matter of common decency.”

In the complainant itself, the customer said the employee who spoke with them was a “transgender ‘woman’, ie, a biological male” and stated this was “obviously the case” because the person was “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’.”

After the mother lodged a complaint, an M&S customer service assistant wrote in an email response: “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.”

The reply also promised the next time the pair visit it would ensure her daughter “receives assistance from a female colleague” and would make “necessary arrangements” to ensure her experience was “as comfortable and positive as possible”.

However, the mother was not satisfied and stated the reply fell “significantly short” of what she expected.

She urged the retailer to implement a policy to ensure transgender members of staff stayed away from young women, to preserve the “safety and dignity of women and girls”.

A spokesperson for Marks & Spencer told PinkNews in regards to the matter: “We want our stores to be inclusive and welcoming places 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 to speak to the colleague they feel most comfortable with.”

This is certainly not the first time anti-trans bigots have complained about M&S and urged a boycott.

Back in November gender-critical campaigners urged customers to spend elsewhere after they claimed the brand’s new advertising campaign for bras was anti-women for using language they deemed to be gender-neutral and therefore promoting so-called “gender ideology”.

The ad was aimed at youngsters buying their first bra and the poster, which was displayed in stores, showed two smiling teenage girls and one bra, alongside details about the sizes available, and the words: “Smart. Strong. Supported. First bras for fearless young things.”

Gender-critical activists took issue with the phrase “young things”, claiming it dehumanised young women.

The phrase “young things” has, however, been in use for more than a century with the “Bright Young Things” being a name for a group of group of wealthy, Bohemian young people living London in the 1920s who threw extravagant parties and typified the attitudes of the roaring twenties.

Prior to this, in 2023, M&S’s festive campaign was criticised for being “woke” because it involved the use of the slogan Love Thismas (Not Thatmas) and focused on striking the balance between doing what we actually enjoy at Christmas, and what we feel obliged to do.

The brand was soon faced with cries of “go woke, go broke” and accused of “trying to cancel Christmas”.