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News UK Home News Costa Coffee defends mural of post-op trans man after boycott threat Costa Coffee included a transgender person with mastectomy scars in a cartoon advert
Costa Coffee defends mural of post-op trans man after boycott threat Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
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Your support makes all the difference. Read more Costa Coffee has defended its decision to include a transgender person with mastectomy scars in a cartoon mural on one of its vans.
The UKās largest coffee chain was accused on Monday of glamourising ācomplex and dangerous surgeryā after a photograph of the branding was shared on social media.
Showing only one character of what Costa Coffee said was a wider mural, the image shows a cartoon surfer holding a coffee cup and wearing yellow swimming shorts, with two scars on their chest.
On Tuesday, the company stood by its desicion to use the image, saying it āshowcases and celebrates inclusivityā and was created as part of a mural for last yearās Pride Month.
A Costa Coffee spokesperson said: āAt Costa Coffee, we celebrate the diversity of our customers, team members and partners.
āWe want everyone that interacts with us to experience the inclusive environment that we create, to encourage people to feel welcomed, free and unashamedly proud to be themselves.
āThe mural, in its entirety, showcases and celebrates inclusivity.ā
Speaking to Talk TV, Labour MP Lloyd Russell-Moyle expressed his support for the mural celebrating āthe diversity of how people live and not how we want people to live in a perfect worldā.
When challenged by presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer, he added: āThe mural does not go into details about the motivation of the person who is depicted like that at all.
āWe donāt know. All we know is the mural celebrates the diversity of people and peopleās body.
āLots of people make adjustments to their breasts and other parts of their body because they are unhappy with them.
āI think itās rather judgemental to be forcing your view of what somebodyās body should look like.
āIf you donāt want to go to Costa as well, I think thatās your choice as well and thatās fine.ā
Author Ugla Stefania also stood up for the mural, tweeting: āSaw Costa was trending. Turned out itās because they have an illustration of a trans masc person and all the bigots are losing their minds about trans people existing.
āGreat advertisement for Costa really. Thanks everyone, itās a lovely illustration.ā
The trans rights campaigner added: āThe people in the comments calling consensual surgeries āmutilationā are just showing their disrespect to actual survivors of genital mutilation - intersex people, cis women and others assigned female at birth suffer those every day all across the world. You should be ashamed.ā
The debate took off after a picture of the Costa van was posted onto Twitter by writer James Esses, a former Childline volunteer.
Tweeting the coffee chain, he said: āCould you kindly explain why you are glorifying irreversible surgery performed on healthy breasts of women for a mental health condition?ā
Failed London mayoral candidate Laurence Fox criticised Costa Coffee, accusing it of āpromoting the mutilationā of young peopleās bodies.
The Reclaim Party candidate also called for the chainās 13,450 outlets to be āboycotted out of existenceā.
Others further described the move as ācrass and irresponsibleā with further calls on social media to boycott the firm.
For Women Scotland raised concerns for women who have suffered breast cancer, saying it might be ādistressingā and āoffensiveā.
The organisation asked Costa Coffee if it understands how the āglorification and promotion of medically unnecessary mastectomies could be distressing and offensive to women who have suffered breast cancerā.
Tanya Carter, spokesperson for child safeguarding campaign group Safe Schools Alliance, told the MailOnline: āItās almost unbelievable that Costa would do something so crass and irresponsible as to use this image.ā
While Paul ā@wrxmanpaulā, who describes himself on Twitter as an activist for LGBT , equality and diversity, was among those who quipped back at Esses, in support of the branding.
āTrans people lives and choices is not your concern,ā he wrote.
āGender affirming care is a personal choice and is a long process to be accepted for surgery,ā he commented.ā
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