Costa Coffee angers customers by ‘glamourising’ trans surgery

The UK’s largest coffee chain, Costa Coffee, has come under fire for promoting double mastectomies for gender-confused women on one of its Express vans.

The cartoon image, circulating widely on social media, appears to show a topless young woman bearing the marks of breast surgery and drinking from a Costa Coffee cup.

Dr Martens is also facing a public backlash, after it gave away a pair of boots in a promotional campaign featuring a ‘queer’ artist’s image of a woman who had undergone so-called top surgery.

‘Not cool’

Maya Forstater, Executive Director of Sex Matters, criticised the move: “The main issue here is promoting and glamourising self-harm and the idea that young women should have their breasts removed.

this is promoting a movement for body dysmorphia

“This isn’t about showing solidarity with a minority, this is promoting a movement for body dysmorphia.”

Safe Schools Alliance’s Tanya Carter expressed concern about the impact of the image on children, branding its use “crass and irresponsible”.

And Stephanie Davies-Arai, Director of the campaign group Transgender Trend, argued that by “presenting trans as cool”, Costa was promoting major surgery to children as if it were “just the same as changing your clothes”.

‘Horrific’

Feminist writer Julie Bindel complained: “to celebrate a woman having breasts removed for reasons of social contagion and vanity? It’s absolutely bonkers”.

crass and irresponsible

She added: “This dangerous ideology that you can mix and match your body by undergoing complex and dangerous surgery is horrific.”

But Dr Helen Webberley, founder of GenderGP – an unlicensed ‘gender affirming’ clinic that targets young people – supported the image saying: “Top surgery is a completely routine and normal procedure”.

In an attempt to justify the controversial representation, a spokesman for Costa Coffee claimed it ‘celebrated’ the diversity of its “customers, team members and partners”.