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

Perhaps next time people will pay up.

It’s presumably not really about trans or beliefs, but about good old fashioned power.

If people have power they usually use it. Absolute power corrupts etc.

Because of diversity and intersectionalism some groups including the T have quite a lot of power: within the Labour Party, within trade unions, within the establishment including the police.

People don’t always consider if their behaviour is appropriate if that behaviour is unchallenged, even applauded.

@Aesopfable

Current medical and psychiatric opinion

So you are saying it is a psychiatric issue?

I think if someone is so distressed by their physical sex that they cannot function without medical intervention, then the appropriate assessment and treatment required is a psychiatric matter, yes.

@Jugglingalloftheballs

The owner could well have just said ‘no, we don’t put posters in the window/support other charities’ instead, she waffled about how the ‘spirits’ made this person trans.

Replace trans with ‘gay’ and maybe you’ll see why the owners response was out of order. I agreed this was bat shit crazy When I read the OP, until I read what had actually happening.

Wow, way to invalidate and erase 2 spirit people, bigot.

So sorry Butterer

Some people are just awful and the TRAs in Brighton seem particularly awful.

I hope you're in a better place now

@PotholeParadies

Nope what you’ve said is so incorrect.
EVERYONE gets holiday paid. The least you will get is 12.07%. Work a day - still get 12.07%. Work for six months - 12.07%. Leave a company - they have to pay you 12.07%.

Zero hour contacts just mean that - you are contracted to zero hours so your hours can and do change depending on the needs of the business. You and I probably have a contract with X number of hours a week.

Moonbasealpha

Aesopfable
Current medical and psychiatric opinion

So you are saying it is a psychiatric issue?

I think if someone is so distressed by their physical sex that they cannot function without medical intervention, then the appropriate assessment and treatment required is a psychiatric matter, yes.

I agree.

(Although If you read the trans widows threads, not being able to function, doesn't really figure. Quite the reverse.)

But of course, the definition of a woman, is not a man who can't function.

I think we may be talking about different things! I mean that what the disgruntled ex-employee described as happening (getting their holiday pay as they earned it each month) is how I thought it worked.

I can't see what's wrong with that or what the ex-employee thinks the business should have done. But it's not my area.

@Cloudybean

People keep saying she's spreading hate or whatever, but she emailed an individual who chose to then share it. If it was that harmful why would you do that, other than to try and throw a tantrum because someone said no?

There was nothing remotely hateful in her email- quite the opposite in fact.

My best guess is that the cafe owner does what many (most) small employers. Do, which is to give the work to their accountant and rely on them to produce it all. The payroll software is quite expensive so not worth even trying to do yourself, then you have complications such as compulsory NEST pensions, and now furlough.

My mums carer was directly employed so in her late eighties she became a boss, so presumably hated by some people here. (She had dementia so never knew that she had moved into the ranks of oppressors.) My mum, also had specialist employer insurance which included access to legal advice.

The way we handled all sorts of things, car loans, Christmas bonus’, holiday pay was based on advice we received. No small employer wants to deal with an employment tribunal, nor claims from the taxman. I would lay a bet that this is true of the cafe owner. Employees may be unhappy about the way furlough or holiday pay was handled, but my guess is that decisions were based on advice from the accountant and had nothing to do with a traditional bourgeoise desire to oppress the proletariat. Even in Brighton.

Not necessarily an accountant - there are lots of firms offering payroll services

Religion/belief is a protected characteristic by law. She is entitled to her faith. This hounding could be considered harassment under the equality act ...

If she has specialist insurance, which I expect she has, she might see if the have a legal helpline.

What has happened may well have crossed the line into intimidation and harassment (not a lawyer but assume attempts to destroy her business and potentially unfair/libellous accusations merit at least a carefully and firmly worded letter.)

@Needmoresleep

If she has specialist insurance, which I expect she has, she might see if the have a legal helpline.

What has happened may well have crossed the line into intimidation and harassment (not a lawyer but assume attempts to destroy her business and potentially unfair/libellous accusations merit at least a carefully and firmly worded letter.)

Indeed. And, from memory, being on an anonymous forum doesn't protect you.

Twitter gave up Posie Parker's details. Fortunately there was no case to answer, but you cannot be protected if you are committing the offence of harassment.

She knows who they are and one of them is commenting on it all under their (presumably) real name on facebook.

Won't exactly need twitter to give up their details.

I know who the TRAs are (via my neighbour) but it's pretty cowardly to doxx the owner of Happy Maki yet not reveal their identities in the statement.

@Datun

Frantically trying to use sexual orientation to force women into complying with trans ideology, when sexual orientation doesn't exist in trans ideology.

I'm almost embarrassed on their behalf.

I work for a sme in the hospitality industry. My job involves being the interface between our company & the contracted out payroll company. So I can confirm that zero hours employees have holiday pay at 12% added to their hourly rate and paid in each week's wages. Sometimes employees don't really understand how this works, it takes a bit of getting your head around.

You brush off her absolute batshit crazy cultish "religion" which was only started in 2007 by saying "it's a bit out there" and you think that her acting directly discriminating on the grounds of someone's gender identity is OK. Because its a transman who wanted to put the poster up in a cafe window in the most LGBTQ friendly city in Britain asking for support from random people for top surgery.

What’s batshit crazy about serving good food and donating to good dauses? Why should anyone ask other people to give money to a healthy woman wanting surgery? Demanding money with menaces is beyond “Batshit crazy”. It’s also a criminal offence.

Zero hours contracts with a local pub group have served my DDs very well. DD1 has picked up work every holiday back from uni, even just the occasional single shift when home for the weekend. She was amazed to discover she got paid holiday pay as well. She's a hardworking popular employee, they're good employers and always happy to have her back.
I know these contracts are abused in some situations but they have their place and suit the student population well.
Funny that so many employees did a flounce just as the universities went back.
I hope Anna gets a better class of employee from her recruitment drive. I imagine there are quite a few people around who would be grateful of a job. Bet they get a decent meal while they're there too, definitely one of the perks of the job my DD enjoyed.

I recon Anna will have an extremely supportive work team once new people are recruited and in role. They will be there knowing how Anna has been harassed for her faith (belief/faith is a protected characteristic by law)

I'm going to report the unhappy maki FB page for harrassment. I really think the owner should go to the police as well. I don't think it takes much searching on FB to find the main perpetrators. They need to be prosecuted and forced to pay compensation for trying to bribe someone on the threat of taking their business down. Set an exam of what will happen to the next activist who gets to bring someone's business down for 'wrong think'.

Name and shame them Sappho.

Tell their parents...

So they're suggesting not paying for food they order food. From a business that puts food in needy children's mouths. Also contributes towards tree planting and the environment. Decent and worthy values.

I would bet these lovely flowers talk a good game. In reality they have nothing but me, me, me. There are as many hypocritical sh*ts in this world as there ever were.