Brighton TRAs bullying female small business owner

[SapphosRock]

Urgh. This is happening in my home town and it’s shit.

Happy Maki is a small, vegan cafe and takeaway. It’s a very ethical business. All about sustainability and green energy. They plant a tree and feed a child for each wrap made. It’s a gift economy and the food is free with a suggested donation. All very hippy. You get the idea.

A FTM trans person approached the female owner of Happy Maki and asked for support in fundraising for their top surgery. I believe they wanted a poster in the window asking for money. The owner refused. When pressed the owner said it was against her religious beliefs - she is a follower of the Divine Truth which admittedly sounds a bit ‘out there’ but not entirely unexpected given the nature of her business.

Anyway the TRAs have really gone to town and are posting in every Brighton based Facebook group, Instagram and Twitter accusing the owner of Transphobia and calling for her to apologise:

twitter.com/makiunhappy/status/1314261939833446400?s=21

They seem to be getting a lot of support and gaining a lot of traction too with many saying they are now going to boycott the business.

I’m upset about this for a lot of reasons. Obviously the female owner being bullied and harassed in this way and them encouraging people to email her. The lovely takeaway losing business. It’s also pretty tone deaf to attack the hospitality sector in the midst of a global pandemic for not supporting one individual’s elective, life changing surgery.

Anyway, the reason I’m posting here is in solidarity with the owner Anna. And if any of you lovely lot are nearby then consider getting a Happy Maki takeaway. The food is delicious and I’m sure they could do with some support right now.

www.happymaki.co.uk

Just made me remember - I follow a local vegan LGBT cafe on IG (sounds similar to this one, I know it's not though as I'm not in Brighton or anywhere near!)
They raise money for local LGBT causes, and I've supported in the past by buying from there.
One of their stories this morning was how they'd donated from their cake sales to someone's top surgery, maybe there's a few cafes doing the same thing at the moment?
This sounds like it was probably the same kind of thing - at the one I follow, sales of the rainbow cake they made goes towards LGBT causes.
Maybe the top surgery was just one of several causes such cafes could support and regularly get approached by people wanting to maybe have funds for their causes.
Like anywhere I suppose

violently extorting money

Words are literally violence now didn’t you know?

Well forgive me if that was insensistive

I didn't see it as insensitive, but as an indication that you have no idea what life as a woman is actually like. But most men don't.

Well forgive me if that was insensistive but I presumed since people were so quick to believe the bosses version of events over 10 of their workers than I assumed few had been in the position of the workers and perhaps didn't realise bosses routinely lie about workplace disputes.

Ugh. I've been sexually assaulted by a corporate superior, which isn't even an uncommon experience. The idea that a boss airing their views about religion over break is some tragic horror that we privileged women would able to empathise with says a lot about jj

Don't think I could get a piece of lemon drizzle down if i thought one of the by products was going to be healthy breasts being cut off but you do you. not envy.

my typing is even worse than usual because I'm so pissed off. missing "not" above, obviously.

Just been chatting with my neighbour (who is non binary) about this and we both agreed the TRAs in Brighton can be awful. Anyone who went to the WPUK meeting last year knows how aggressive they can be. Kicking the windows etc.

My neighbour knows the people behind this latest 'Unhappy Maki' campaign and called them spoilt little snowflakes who love to pick fights.

People are afraid to speak up in fear of being attacked themselves or branded transphobic.

It's a vegan café. If a trans person asks to put a 'Legalise Fox Hunting' poster up, do you think that'll be transphobia too?

@Butterer

The trauma thing seems to have come up at an unspecified point in time and without context with her staff. You know how people who work together often have conversations about all kinds of stuff that are nothing to do with work, but they have personal opinions about?

Yes of course people do, and for those in positions of power who have lets say eccentric beliefs then they should be careful in those conversations, particularly if their opinions would be offensive to LGB workers. The repeatedly claim in the statement they are objecting to her biphobia, and as well as the dubious sentiment the letter is written proof of the nature of her belief about evil spirits controlling people. Given events are contested I can understand why they might want to draw people's attention to that. As I said its a shame theres no trade union involvement because this could probably have been resolved a lot better, although I suspect if any of those workers are bisexual they may have a case for constructive dismissal.

I imagine they letter is highlighted

Cripes I just read her blog

It’s almost like Cambodia.

Do what we say or else .........

Really quite frightening

(Yep. With a bit about how she has to explain that some worker's suggestions / requests would have been furlough fraud if she had taken them up.*

What an incredibly unsurprising development in this story. So, they're mad at her because she wouldn't commit fraud on their behalf. And therefore they've made up a bunch of lies about her and launched a social media harassment campaign against her. Yup, sounds about right.

kantasic 💐

No sexual assault, but my boss when i was 17 Thought it was perfectly ok to talk to the other men about exactly what he would Like to do to me and some of the other girls

I follow a local vegan LGBT cafe

What's a 'LGBT cafe'? Is it one run by people who are lgbt or is it one which only serves lgbt people or only employs lgbt people? This isn't a concept I've come across before. Sorry if this is a stupid question. I don't often visit places like Brighton.

(The cafe that this thread is about is just a plain vegan cafe, and I do understand what that means)

Cripes sapphos how we have got to this where people are frightened to say anything and stand up to,bullies and being called transphobic for anything

It’s really strange and just weird and seems like bullies just like being bullies

No,independent thoughts or critical thoughts.

Just let’s gang up and bully a woman

@Kantastic

(Yep. With a bit about how she has to explain that some worker's suggestions / requests would have been furlough fraud if she had taken them up.*

What an incredibly unsurprising development in this story. So, they're mad at her because she wouldn't commit fraud on their behalf. And therefore they've made up a bunch of lies about her and launched a social media harassment campaign against her. Yup, sounds about right.

And bosses always tell then truth. Every single word of that letter is hundred percent accurate and the workers are just lying lowlifes trying to extort money from the poor capitalist.

@Butterer

Did anyone else see her say that there are now rumours that she broke a workers rib? I presume it was by the literal violence of her hateful words about bisexuals.

It's rumours piled upon rumours, isn't it?

"I saw that Goody Cafeowner consorting with the devil."

OldCrone I've never come across a LGBT cafe either. I didn't think it was legal to have exclusive LGBT venues anymore since the Equality Act.

Working class people have heard all this shit before, in every workplace dispute there's ever been. No wonder you all love the Murdoch press so much.

“ 0spoilt little snowflakes who love to pick fights.“

The Allsorts generation?

Affirmation only.

Oh god don’t encourage anymore butterer 😩

@jj1968

Working class people have heard all this shit before, in every workplace dispute there's ever been. No wonder you all love the Murdoch press so much.

Yup. We're just a hive mind on here

Bullies love to bully.

They always love a gang to bully with.