A retail assistant at one of the UK’s biggest natural cosmetics companies has spoken out against the new Supreme Court ruling.
Sherrie-Leigh Tilley is a retail sales assistant and a junior gift designer for LUSH Meadowhall, a store which has taken a stance against the new Supreme Court Ruling.
She said, “Lush has partnered with trans led group TransActual and My Genderation for a public campaign, launched in all 101 UK stores from 23rd April till the 11th May. The campaign includes eye-catching window displays in all stores, free 24-page booklets about the campaign for all customers, and a Liberation bath bomb sold to help raise funds for both causes.”
She also disclosed that Lush faced some backlash from customers, particularly parents who felt the company was pushing an agenda on their children.
“Recently, the company was informed that we would be having a piece written about us in The Times about our recent campaign. Whether this was published or not, I do not know,” she added.
This isn’t the first time Lush has taken a political stance; the beauty and skincare company has often supported charities, and currently sells a soap of which all the money is donated to a charity that supports Palestinian families in Gaza.
When questioned on why Lush chooses to take these stances she said; “This campaign was created to help show solidarity and support for the trans community, to hold a safe space, and raise awareness about the unnecessary backlash trans people receive daily, especially in light of the recent government news where the trans community has been unnecessarily targeted.”
The topic has created a big divide amongst cisgender women. We asked Sherrie how she feels personally as a woman and what womanhood means to her.
“It is an integral part of who I am, who I have been, and who I will become, “ she said.
“It is what every strong, resilient, bad ass person in my life is. A woman. As a queer woman myself, growing up with just my mum, my two queer sisters and so many beams of light I get to call friends, woman-hood is truly the glue that holds all of that together. I wish every person who feels this way gets to proudly and authentically be that without being told that they are wrong.”
TERFS (trans-exclusionary radical feminists) is a term that is often used online. The label has been aimed towards JK Rowling, Harry Potter author, in response to her posts on X claiming trans women aren’t women. Her grounds for this belief are that by accepting trans women into female spaces, it increases the risk of physical and sexual violence against women.
This is something Sherrie feels passionately about.
She said, “Think for yourself. Ask yourself, when have you ever been made to feel unsafe by a trans person? Have you ever had an unpleasant experience with a trans person? Do these people sharing these negative views about trans people have any examples either?”
“If you gather the facts, you will see that these headlines are scapegoats for the real issues at hand. We cannot pass on the violence, it’s safety for all women, or no women at all, and it is as simple as that,” she added.
She also touches on how this branches into a wider issue of deflecting society’s problems onto the trans community, with a particular focus on trans women.
“The government focuses on unnecessary and fact-less based issues instead of dealing with the real, relevant problems at hand, such as the cost of living crisis, rising rates, and violence against women and the LGBTQIA+ community.”
Rape Crisis England and Wales disclosed that 1 in 4 women and girls over the age of 16 are victims of rape or sexual assault and and 1 in 6 children are sexually abused. These are reported cases.
The UCLA School of Law wrote that trans people are four times more likely to face discrimination and violence. It can be said that trans women face both discrimination for being a woman and for being trans.
Sherrie said, “Ask yourself, if this were your child, sibling, or parent, how would you feel? would you want them to feel like the world was turning against them? That they are wrong for being who they believe they are? for expressing themselves authentically?”
For more information on the charities Lush Cosmetics is involved with click on the links below:
To read more on My Generation: My Genderation – Films, Training, Awareness and LGBTQIA+ Store
