Hershey’s Women’s Day campaign featuring trans activist sparks right-wing backlash and calls for boycott

Company said it values ‘strength created by diversity’

A Hershey’s International Women’s Day campaign featuring a trans activist has sparked a furious backlash from people with right-wing anti-trans views on social media, causing the candy company and calls to boycott it to both trend on Twitter.

Fae Johnstone, a trans activist who leads the firm Wisdom 2 Action, is featured in the campaign, which also includes organisers and scientists working in areas like gender, climate change and indigenous rights.

In an ad for the effort, she says, “We can create a world where everyone is able to live in public space as their honest and authentic self.”

“We still have a long way to go in the fight to end misogyny, patriarchy and gender-based violence,” they added in social media post about the campaign. “I hope this campaign helps give more young women and girls role models and possibility models. And shows them how we can change the world, together.”

Following criticism online, Johnston said she was undaunted.

“The reaction to my inclusion as a trans woman in Hershey’s Canada’s IWD campaign shows just how far we still have to go in the fight for feminist liberation and trans rights,” she wrote on Twitter. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not shutting up. I will always stand up for women and girls, cis and trans.”

Hershey’s said it was proud to stand by the campaign.

“We value togetherness and recognize the strength created by diversity,” the company told CNN. “Over the past three years, our Women’s History Month programming has been an inclusive celebration of women and their impact. We appreciate the countless people and meaningful partnerships behind these efforts.”

Egale Canada, an organisation which advocates on behalf of two-spirited and LGBT+ people, criticised those taking issue with the campaign as “transphobic.”

“Trans women must be treated with respect and dignity, and recognized as women, just like cisgender women,” the group said in a statement. “Denying the validity of a trans woman’s identity is not only disrespectful and hurtful, but it also perpetuates harmful stereotypes and discrimination against the transgender community. All individuals should be allowed to express their gender identity without fear of discrimination or violence.”

Anti-trans sentiment has been reaching a fever pitch in recent months, as Republicans in the US have launched a slate of legislative proposals seeking to limit access to gender-affirming healthcare and education about sex and gender.