M&S apologises over trans employee in bra department (Telegraph)

[WimbledonWhites]

How many “cis” male members of staff do you suppose would approach teenage girls in the lingerie department?
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08/04/ms-apologises-over-trans-employee-in-bra-department/

https://archive.ph/nTDB9archive.ph/nTDB9

What a grave error, and a safe guarding issue.

Men do work in clothing departments

Big big difference between a nurse being professional and a male loitering around hoping to 'pass' in the underwear section of M&S

I too have been looked after by a male nurse, who was a complete star.

That doesn't mean I'd want a transwoman either in a medical profession or bra fitting anywhere near my body. There is something about the pretence that means I really wouldn't trust these males.

He doesn’t! He works in a different department from the sounds of it but decided to stop by the lingerie section to see if the teenager needed any help. So even worse.

It’s not being naive! It’s being non judgemental, not every trans person is a pervert! I have work colleagues who are trans and unless you actually knew you’d have no idea they were trans! Not every trans person has a beard! How many people do you come across in life and have no idea that they are trans? Far more than you think, get you’re head out of your ass!

I don't believe you, I think its far more likely that trans-people mistake politeness for ignorance.

I agree not every Transwoman is a pervert, but some are and are therefore very motivated to want access womens spaces, and women can't tell the difference between a trans-person and a pevert. This could be disasterous for them.

So what you’re saying is that attractive trans women who have had lots of plastic surgery ARE allowed to approach teenage girls in lingerie departments? And we should all be ‘non judgmental’ about that?

Curious to see how many retirees he also offered to assist that day since “It is understood that the staff member involved works across the clothing section as well as other parts of the shop and is not one of the staff members who carries out bra fittings.”

…Customers can always ask to speak to colleagues they feel most comfortable with

In this case, the mother was present, but what if the teenager had been on her own. Regardless of whether there were or were not suspicious motivation on the part of the employee, it is absolutely unbelievable that M&S shifts responsibility from them training their staff properly (male staff not to approach young females) to expecting a young teenager girl to advocate for themselves. Shows zilch understanding of a teen girl’s personality or what life is like for them on average.

So how do you know your colleagues are trans? If no one can tell…. How do you know?

I hope this line is just really bad journalism defaulting to generic transpeople as the editors didn’t want to distinguish the male kind. If it’s not then the mum is pretty unreasonable and bigoted as all that’s reasonable to ask is that male staff don’t do any task in female customers intimate space like bra fittings or helping in the women’s changerooms. This should be a given, especially for young girls. But it’s not reasonable at all to request they don’t let trans people to approach customers!
She asked the retailer for confirmation that it would not happen to any other teenagers, and that M&S would implement a policy to ensure that <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.md/o/nTDB9/www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/05/04/ill-protect-trans-people-to-the-end-vows-co-op-boss/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">transgender staff would not approach young women.

Revolting. Men wearing wigs, skirts and make up are still men.

It isn't the job of women and girls to make men feel comfortable or affirm them. The fact that a man is working there is a problem. I doubt any other males did a shift there. It doesn't matter if he genuinely believes he is a woman, he isn't. He crossed the line when he worked in that department and when he approached the kid. His thoughts, feelings and intentions are irrelevant. As for the person saying you can't tell which sex someone is, that's an out an out lie. We all know which sex someone is regardless of clothing choices. One of our oldest biological skills is to assess the sex of people. Women's lives can depend on it.

"...unless you actually knew you’d have no idea they were trans"

Doubt it.

Even if the dinner plate hands and Adam's cooking apple don't give the game away, they will make sure to mention it every 5 seconds.

Sigh....

Ask your nice "passing" male friends work colleagues would they approach a 13/14 year old girl who was looking for a bra to help her get a correct fitting one.

Here is a hint.
If any of them say they would approach the 14 year old girl and they dont see any problem with looking at or discussing or touching the 14 year olds breasts they are not "nice".

Once you have listened to Dr Az Hakeem - expert in working with this population - you understand that the majority of these men are transvestites and others are autistic or autogynophiles. Which of these groups are most likely to deliberately seek work with women's underwear and young girls?

As a middle aged woman, I’ve shopped in M&S more times than I can possibly count, and I don’t ever remember being approached by a staff member while browsing. It’s almost as if it’s a thing they don’t really do…unless the staff member has an ulterior motive….

He him

You dont have to be ignorent with your langauge.

Thats your choice.

If I were a transwoman I’d be staying far far away from the ladies underwear department lest people think I’m a pervert…

This is awful and so depressing. And M&S response is “Ring us before she comes in next time and we’ll make sure she gets the service she deserves” - WTF, so now you have to give prior notice to say a woman is coming to the bra department, to give them chance to get their perving staff out?? What a mess that M&S really can’t afford.

Yeah you need to pull your own head out of your ass and start judging men who approach girls in lingerie departments.

There's a reason these perverts get away with it and it is people like you who just open the doors and let them in.

I am so sick of this insanity. Why on earth would anyone think it's ok for a biological male to be in the bra department trying to access female girls for bra fittings? I feel like I've woken up in an alternative reality where people have gone mad.

No, she does not have that right any more.

If she had asked for it, she may have been supplied with a man who says he is a woman and if she objected, she would likely have been discharged or noted on her records and being a bigot and refused health care.

The NHS even has a secret section in their policies to deal with females who want female care and who won't accept men who say they are women.

You all sound insane to me.
It's not the fitting room, it said so in the article.
It's a shop. I honestly think even a straight up male member of staff can work in a clothing department without it being weird.
This is not creepy.
It's not predatory.
It's only creepy and predatory if you think trans women are playing out a sick kink - which shows you don't know much or anything about any actual real trans women.
And you probably don't want to, because you've already concocted an image of them all as weird sex perverts who want to do perverse awful things like...work as a retail employee to "prey" on vulnerable teenage girl who are with their mothers in the day time in a well lit shopping centre surrounded by people and other staff members and cctv. Shocking. I'm merely a feeble woman so if a MAN speaks to me, I'll surely faint! And then get raped, right there in the middle of the M+S lingerie department, exactly as that sick MAN wants!!!!

You all sound ridiculous and I'm furious on this perfectly innocent interaction being treated like a sex crime.

No I'm not going to listen to any replies as you are highly unlikely to listen to me. You've probably already written me off as a man 🙄