Lush under fire for Pride display showing tiger with top surgery scars
Lush have come under fire for a new window display (Getty Images [stock] | X/JuliaHB1)
Cosmetics chain Lush has come under fire over a Pride window display which references gender-affirming top surgery.
The display, which appeared at the chain’s Chelmsford store ahead of Essex Pride on 21 June, features a tiger alongside the slogan “Proud of My Stripes”. The tiger’s stripes are painted in the colours of the transgender flag.
The ad was initially included in a Facebook post from Chelmsford City Council, celebrating Pride displays in the area, by artist Bucky Ringsell. However, the post has since been edited to remove it.
Ringsell said in an Instagram post: “I designed and painted this tiger to support and represent trans folks who have undergone top surgery – myself included. Being proud of your scare (aka stripes) is something everyone can take inspiration from, regardless of your journey. Trans bodies are beautiful.:
The markings on the tiger resemble chest scars some trans men have after top surgery, which critics have said encourages “teenage girls to cut off their healthy breasts”.
Freelance journalist Janet Murray wrote an open letter to Lush and Chelmsford City Council requesting the display be removed.
“Mastectomies are not a fashion statement, an identity marker or something to be celebrated,” she wrote.
“They are something women undergo because they are ill, because they are frightened, because they are trying to stay alive.”
Broadcaster Julia Hartley-Brewer went further. “Ugh. This is DISGUSTING,” she wrote on X, claiming the chain was “encouraging” teenage girls to “cut off their healthy breasts in the name of trans pride”.
She called the display “dangerous and sick”, adding: “No parent should allow their child near your stores,” alongside a boycott hashtag.
Lush has a long history of backing LGBTQ+ and other progressive causes. At the time of writing, the company has not publicly responded to the criticism.
Dr Helen Webberley, founder of the online gender service GenderGP., responded to the backlash on X: “Calm yourself my love. No teenage girls are having their healthy breasts removed, just teenage boys are having their gynaecomastia resolved so they can live in freedom in their bodies.”
She added that puberty blockers “prevent the need for top surgery”, and praised Lush for recognising all teens.
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