A new commercial from Starbucks is attempting to raise awareness of the daily challenges faced by the transgender youth.
The advertisement aired during the first week of February and aims to show people that Starbucks welcomes everyone, regardless of who you are or want to be.
At Starbucks, writing your name on a cup and calling it out is a symbol of our warm welcome. Starbucks welcomes you, whoever you are. #whatsyourname Find out more at https://t.co/6BrvpLfKZb pic.twitter.com/w1ge3ZKu0C
— Starbucks UK (@StarbucksUK) February 2, 2020
The 90-second commercial starts out like a story, showing a trans teen who is referred to as “Jemma” during different times of the day.
At the end of the ad, the teen goes to Starbucks where the barista asks for a name.
“It’s James,” the teen responds with a smile. The employee writes “James” on the cup and the words “every name’s a story” appear on the screen.
The coffee giant launched the commercial as part of the #WhatsYourName campaign.
“Taking a customer’s name, writing it on a cup and calling it out is a symbol of our warm welcome. It is part of the Starbucks experience and creates a moment of connection between our baristas and customers,” a Starbucks release said.
“Starbucks #whatsyourname campaign celebrates this signature act and the significance it can have for some transgender and gender diverse people as they use their new name in public.”
To further expand their support for the transgender community, the coffee company has partnered with the charity Mermaids UK – a group that supports trans children by selling mermaid cookies in UK stores.
Mermaids supports gender-diverse children, young adults and their families until their 20th birthday.
It is one of the UK’s leading LGBTQ charities and has faced criticism in the past for their push to reverse the nationwide ban on children receiving cross-sex hormones.
In the US, lawmakers in states like Florida and South Dakota are launching efforts to prevent sex change hormone treatments and surgeries for minors. They contend that gender confusion can clear up after the teenage years, so it’s wrong to allow treatments that could end up being an irreversible mistake.
CBN News has previously reported that some doctors also warn that the side effects of opposite-sex hormones are very dangerous and can cause blood clots, cardiovascular issues, and place people at risk for cancer.
On the other side, in a 2016 interview, Mermaids CEO Susie Green told The Guardian that use of opposite-sex hormones should not be based on a young person’s age – rather their maturity level.
National Review’s Madeleine Kearns called the combined campaign “shameful” and said that Mermaids “peddles dangerous nonsense to vulnerable children and families, using the ultimate emotional blackmail of suicide.”
Kearns explained that Green “took her own gender-confused son Jack” to Thailand for a procedure that is “illegal in Britain and now illegal in Thailand.”
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