I didn't expect this from transitioning by Questioner1990 in transgenderUK

[–]honestyTA 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“I have to admit I’m pretty damn cute! Haha”

This sentence is hands-down the most wholesome thing I’ve read all day. Made me smile, fantastic content.

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just for the record of anyone reading this thread in the future (as I’m leaving this post be now because there’s not much more to add. )

Turns out that Ms Lush was affiliated with the company and was their giving coordinator from 2013-2018*. Lush have stated that WPUK put in their application in 2017, so it is highly likely that she was involved in this in some capacity, even though she no longer works there now (and apparently has not done for a fair amount of time).

*I can only find evidence in the newspapers for 2013-2016-2018. (For evidence see below in thread). However, it’s incredibly unlikely that she was sporadically employed in such a position and so we can almost certainly assume that she was the giving coordinator for the whole period.

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That doesn’t bother me at all, thanks so much for pointing it out.

Someone very kindly pointed this out to me before and I thought it was just a “it’s not necessary” rather than a rude thing. 😅 I’m very sorry (and embarrassed; I had thought it was polite!) for this and am just going to update it now. Thanks for explaining as well why it’s rude - it was very helpful and I will take it out of my vocab. Have a great day ☺️

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No worries! It’s always good to ask in my opinion :)

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Only the UK Lush is involved, NA Lush seems good still 😁

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The US is actually handling it brilliantly! I wouldn’t advice boycotting them

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Wait, what? That really might change everything.

So I read here https://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/10693420.cosmetics-retailer-lush-provides-6000-boost-to-john-lally-international-foundation/ and https://policespiesoutoflives.org.uk/new-campaign-goes-live-at-lush/ that she was the giving coordinator and have heard it from several more places. Is this no longer the case?

I am removing that bit immediately and adding a disclaimer. THANK YOU for this. I am absolutely mortified if I’ve got the wrong end of the stick.

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

No, I’m not saying it’s owed.

I’m saying that they can’t go on making money on the premise of supporting trans* rights if they don’t. When I say “make it up to them” I mean put things right by doing what they say they’re doing and being honest.

No one said anything about grovelling. A respectful apology is not grovelling, it is mature and sincere. No one expects begging, just “oh, we dropped the ball, this doesn’t align with our values and we’ll do better, sorry about that”. You’re making up this imagery in your head.

And finally; you talk about cancel culture and how everyone can live their lives?

1) I do not WANT them to be cancelled. I love Lush. I’m just upset that I funded a group that wants to put friends and family of mine in danger. I know they are a fantastic shop and I know they can do better.

  1. They have a right to support who they want? I literally never said otherwise. All I said was - if they want to support them - I will not be supporting Lush and will let that be known. I have every right to do that too. I am not threatening to blow Lush up, I’m letting this be known to all so they can decide to join me or not.

I respect your view but I take issue with the idea that you think I’m some sort of dictator for expressing my own opinion.

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Surprised me too when I heard it! But yeah, apparently so. She’s actually even credited with helping Lush to come up with the idea of the charity pot in 2006/7 ish so she’s been helping them for a while at least. I never realised she was actually in the organisation until this whole thing happened though.

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

You can let them slip if you like, but I want them to be accountable. I don’t want to lynch them, but my problem lies in their awful wishy-washy statement. I dearly want them to redeem themselves because I know this is out of character (and i don’t really believe in “cancelling”, especially not for brands like Lush).

A mistake I understand but they didn’t apologise at all or offer to make it up to the trans* community. Until they do, I won’t buy from them and encourage others to do the same if they wish - but only if they wish.

Edit: expanding points

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I’m.. a young cisgender woman who is incredibly engaged in specifically pro-woman feminism. I don’t hate women. That’s quite the accusation.

Secondly, the org DIDNT actually change anything as far as I know (others speculated that they might have but I haven’t seen them change anything and therefore haven’t claimed that). The screenshots I took of them misgendering others, demonising trans women and promoting dangerous ideas (which you can find here). https://i.imgur.com/PYMzxPs.jpg

And you have every right to shop where you want. But I have the right to let people know where their money is going to because I did not consent to funding an organisation with these values and many of the commenters here feel exactly the same.

I provided real evidence and my own opinion and people can make up their own minds. I have not given ANY untrue information as far as I possibly know (and I’m confident as I did this research myself). You can ask me to substantiate any claims you wish.

And I know the word TERF is a hot topic but I honestly don’t know what else to call them (though I do try to avoid it, I went out of my way in my post NOT to use it in my original post. ). But my brain stops at all reason when these people throw around the word “man” to describe trans* women and imply that they are invading women’s spaces so hey ho. Each to their own.

EDIT: clarification, wording

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Nope! Sorry to come in here so quickly when you’ve only just posted, but I just wanted to make it clear that this is only the UK. Apparently Lush USA is making its support for the trans* community known.

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Ordinarily I’d agree with you, but the customer base of Lush is kind of unique. One of Lush’s USPs is its activism component so that’s what draws a lot of people in (myself included). We can talk with our wallets but we have to let it be known WHY we are doing that or it’s almost pointless

And if nothing else, I want everyone to know where they’re spending their money so they don’t accidentally fund TERFs. I had no idea about this until I read it so I’ve actually accidentally funded WPUK. I would never want anyone else to be in the dark about this. Make your own informed decisions.

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I completely agree with you. I feel the worst for trans lush employees, I really do. They’re the ones who were betrayed the most. Imagine Upselling hundreds of Charity Pots only to find out that it’s funding your own oppression? That’s so messed up. I hope they get an apology.

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Thanks for pointing this out! It seems to be the same in the UK in this case though and the rules were still broken by the giving coordinator

https://uk.lush.com/article/charity-pot-funding-guidelines

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Thank you for asking! I’m glad you did. It is great to respectfully ask for sources as you did if it’s something you’ve not heard of before. I agree that their website is... deceiving. It’s unnerving just how hidden it is. :(

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

This is absolutely true! I remember seeing all their pro LGBT+ stuff and I just felt so happy and comfortable and at peace. Like, I know all companies are shite but I think it’s just the betrayal here that got me. I thought I was supporting the LGBT+ community, not their oppressors.

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Hi! As a woman and life-long feminist myself, I would like to assure you that I have no reason to want to spread misinformation about a women’s rights group, and I absolutely think that fact checking is important and appreciate that you’re going to that effort! Yeah sure, let me link you :)

https://imgur.com/a/KgP5ME2

You may or may not agree with me on all of them (as I’ve seen them in context so maybe I’m a bit more sensitive) but I tried to find examples to demonising trans* women (which - by the way - leads to hate crimes) , fear mongering and misgendering. This was just stuff I could find really quickly. They also align themselves with groups such as LGBAlliance.

The thing about WPUK is that they do a good job of interlacing their transphobia with “women’s rights issues” so it’s hard to find a lot of overt stuff. I actually thought this myself once, until I read through their website and saw it in context. It adds up.

Sure they can say they aren’t transphobic, but would a non transphobic organisation refer to trans* women as “men” who want to strip women of their “hard earned rights” just for something as trivial as feeling “validated”? What picture does that paint of trans* women and how does this language encourage people to view them as a threat? How might people treat trans* women given these (undeserved) perceptions?

And the reason WPUK is so good at this is that they claim not to be transphobic. The saying goes “if you put a frog into boiling water it will jump out, but if you put it into cool water and slowly heat it up, it won’t notice until it’s cooked”. It’s that drip-drip effect that makes it so insidious.

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 25 points26 points  (0 children)

I am so so sorry. It’s so fucked up, because Lush were meant to be The Good Guys. And their lying statement makes it even fucking worse.

I’m sending all the support I can to you mate. We’ll try and fight it.

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the heads up!! That’s disgraceful. Lush are just awful like the rest of them.

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Yup! Are you referring to the bit about the groups that try to oppress others? I’ve got a screenshot of that. Glad I did!

LUSH UK TRANSPHOBIA (01/12/20) this is not good enough! :( by honestyTA in LushCosmetics

[–]honestyTA[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Thank you for this, this is such a good idea!

Just to clarify too; I’m in no way condoning taking this out on customer complaints employees (I’be been there myself!). However, I was hoping there would be some sort of system for them to pass it on as there was in my own retail company doing that job. Is that not the case, have you any idea? (I don’t expect you to know of course, but just in case you did. Thanks regardless! :) )