Starbucks UK, in collaboration with Mermaids, launched a new advertisement last week featuring a young transgender person.
In the film, they repeatedly get misgendered and called by their birth name Jemma, when going about their daily life.
The advert ends with the young person going to the coffee chain and using their chosen name, James, when ordering a drink.
When I first heard of this campaign, I was sceptical of the execution and felt like it was just another major franchise cashing in on the media coverage of transgender issues in the UK. I’m not a fan of large chains and I can’t remember the last time I went to Starbucks for coffee.
But watching that ad, it’s hard not to feel something. As a trans person, it hit home. It’s simple but illustrates just how important it is for trans people to have their correct name used.
When I was starting my journey to becoming my true self, choosing a name was one of the biggest steps.
My parents had named me and my two brothers after birds (which isn’t uncommon in Iceland where I’m from) and I didn’t want to ruin the tradition.
So one day I went for a ride with a few friends who knew I was trans and we brainstormed a feminine bird name. Eventually we came to Ugla (which means owl), but I initially found it odd because it wasn’t common at all.
But as we didn’t find anything else suitable, it stuck as a placeholder.
Being free of my old name was an indescribable feeling – and once my friends started using Ugla, there was a heavy burden lifted off my shoulders.
I grew to love being called it and eventually it became my actual name. In collaboration with my parents, we chose my middle name, which was a feminine version of my old one.
It took people around me some time to start using the right name, especially my parents, even though they had been involved in the process.
But every time they said it, I felt assured, respected and seen for who I really was —the same goes for when people use my correct pronouns.
No one important in my life ever calls me by my old name, although it is routinely used by those who seek to abuse me online.
It’s not what I am called, but I do think kindly of it. There is nothing wrong with the name itself, rather how it was used to identify me as a boy.
For young people, the chance of suicide and depression can be reduced if the people around them support them and use their right name.
Homophobic and transphobic bullying is unfortunately commonplace at schools in the UK, according to the LGBT Survey on 2018 and Stonewall’s School Report from 2017 – showing us that young people desperately need our support.
That’s why this is about more than just a name. It’s a recognition that people accept you, care about you and see you for who you really are. We need to start setting that example for our kids, so everyone can be themselves.
The reason this Starbucks advert hit the nail on the head is no doubt thanks to Mermaids, the charity that supports transgender youths and their parents. They closely collaborated on this campaign and it shows that actually working with trans-led organisations can result in more engaging, heartfelt and authentic content.
People can now order coffee and buy a cookie of a mermaid’s tale, with part of the proceeds going to Mermaids.
While I continue to remain critical of corporations using social issues for public campaigns, I also feel that anything that illustrates the challenges trans people face is hugely needed in the current hostile media climate in the UK.
When there are so many anti-trans stories out there, we need this positive message of kindness.
I know there are many young and adult trans people alike that have found this type of representation incredibly affirming, and that can only be seen as a huge win.
Allyship to the transgender community is vitally important and campaigns like this can hopefully put paid to the high level of misinformation that continues to spread unchallenged.
I hope that Starbucks UK will continue to better itself and continue to work with organisations like Mermaids to implement meaningful policies for their employees and customers alike and set an example for other companies.
And while I don’t believe in ‘ethical consumption’ when we live in such a capitalist society, campaigns like this allow us to use the broken system to our advantage.
Because in the end, young people need to be supported as who they are. They know who they are — all we need to do is listen.
Mermaids does lifesaving work and you can find out more about them here.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/02/12/trans-people-choosing-your-name-becoming-your-true-self-12225272/
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