TL;DR: Exclusive: Marks & Spencer confirms to QueerAF that bra fitting has not been limited to cisgender women only, despite claims in the Scottish Sun that the brand said it would only provide them to 'biological women'. Elsewhere, misinformation about the story has spread far and wide, leaving a confusing picture about the incident that sparked the furore.
Marks & Spencer has not banned Trans+ people from bra fittings, despite misreported claims made in the Scottish Sun, QueerAF can confirm.
A spokesperson for the culturally significant British brand told QueerAF that "everyone is welcome" at bra fittings, including "new mothers looking for a nursing bra, teens trying on their first bra, to post-surgery and transgender bra fits."
It added that fittings always take place in a private fitting room and that "all our bra fitters are female."
The statement follows reports in the Scottish Sun that claimed that the brand had announced their bra fitting service is for customers and staff who are 'biological women'.
Why is Marks & Spencer in the spotlight?
An intense media focus about the chain’s bra fitting service erupted after claims made in The Telegraph earlier this month. The department store issued a statement after right-wing media amplified complaints from an anonymous parent, who claimed their 14-year-old teenager was "visibly upset" after an "obviously" trans woman offered to help them with a bra fitting in a store.
The incident, which took place in March, has only just picked up attention from the press, and has since garnered a large-scale response. Initially, the brand responded to the customer in a message that said: “We deeply regret the distress your daughter felt during her visit to our store. We understand how important this milestone is for her, and we are truly sorry that it did not go as you had hoped.”
In response to the wider press attention, M&S said in a statement: "We want our stores to be inclusive and welcoming places for our colleagues and customers. We have written to this customer and explained that our colleagues typically work across all departments in our stores and customers can always ask to speak to the colleague they feel most comfortable with."
What do we know about what actually happened at M&S?
There is very little direct information about this case available, other than now widely-churned press reports based on the one-sided Telegraph story.
However, this week, a Reddit post, which initially contained identifiable information about the author, claims to be from the transgender staff member at the centre of the media focus.
The Reddit post disputes many of the claims in the original article, including where the interaction took place, which she says was in "the walkway between lingerie and menswear, where I asked the customer if she needed any help".
If the post is from the staff member, it begs many questions about the validity of the reporting in The Telegraph. QueerAF has been unable to confirm the identity or validity of the Reddit user and has reached out to the account in question.
Analysis: Marks and Spencer saga - a manufactured, distracting outrage created by misreporting
Putting aside the difficult-to-verify 'facts' of the incident, what has been clear throughout this press saga is how few attempts at being clear on what we do and don't know there have been. A fact-checking process, one that used to be a critical part of reportage, would have set apart that which is verifiable and that which are reports. And yet, much of the press has carefully presented parts of the story, whether verified or not, to suit editorial agendas.
Although a customer service representative for M&S had initially expressed regret for the feelings the mother felt after the incident, press statements did not issue an apology, contrary to what the vast majority of coverage suggested in headlines. But framing this as an apology led to weeks of press reports, and made space for the Scottish Sun to double down on the dogwhistle of ‘biological woman’ in its reportage, leading to it saying the M&S service excludes trans women - even though the brand has confirmed to QueerAF it has no plans to.
In a rush to publish, post and poke at underlying culture wars, the nuance, facts and truth of this incident were utterly lost.
This is the kind of story we rarely give time to, because of its clear intention to manufacture outrage. We've focused resources on it this week in response to several messages from our audience, who asked us to take action and expressed concern about the misinformation being shared by all sides.
The first thing I do, whenever I see a story with plot holes like this one, is to fact-check it. It usually doesn’t take long to find the flaws in the claims made - and I put it straight in the newsgathering bin.
In an age where misinformation is already spread by right-wing pundits, politicians and the press, we don't need to help it. Indeed the evidence shows that by trying to debunk myths we actually spread them further. Repeating lies, even to dispute them, just gives them more of an audience.
That's why when we're talking about stories, it's up to all of us to lead with the truth. The best way to do that is by taking a beat, checking the facts, and then presenting them coherently, carefully and consistently.
To beat misinformation is a well resourced queer led newsroom that can cut through the noise and get to the facts.
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