[Crimson Dynamo]

Marks & Spencer has apologised to a mother for causing her teenage daughter “distress” after she was asked if she needed help by a transgender employee (Man) in its bra section.

The retailer said it was “truly sorry” after the mother complained that her 14-year-old daughter had felt uncomfortable when they were approached by a trans shop assistant in the lingerie area of the shop, where they were hoping to have a bra fitting.

Although the staff member was polite, the mother said she felt it was “completely inappropriate” for her daughter to be approached by a “biological male” in that section.

In a complaint to M&S, she told the retailer: “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’.”

The following day, an M&S customer service assistant replied, apologising for the incident.

“Thank you for reaching out to us and sharing your experience,” the email said. “We deeply regret the distress your daughter felt during her visit to our store.

Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns for the human rights charity Sex Matters, which campaigns for clarity about biological sex in law and life, said
“This is what happens when a business centres the feelings of men who identify as women, even at the expense of their own customers. It is entirely inappropriate for a man to approach a teenage girl in a lingerie department.

This happened a few weeks before the HIgh Court ruling
The mother argued that the retailer’s reply fell “significantly short of the response that was required to satisfy me that M&S takes seriously the safety and dignity of women and girls”.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...ra-department/