Lush Cosmetics handed out 24-page leaflets to seven and eight-year-old children claiming transgender people are victims of a global conspiracy.
Young girls attending a birthday event at one of the chain’s outlets were given the booklet in their party bags as they left.
The document claims trans people have been targeted by a “calculated media assault” designed to “distract from global crises”.
It explains that the media is trying to “shift attention from those nicely off, while the rest of us struggle” and is “encouraging violence” against trans people.
The cosmetics shop has become known for activism
PA
The leaflet, written by charity TransActual and produced by Lush “in solidarity and allyship with trans people”, explains terms like “gender-queer”, “gender-fluid” and “neutrois”. It also covers “intersectionality”, stating that while it “sounds complicated”, it is “actually, very simple”.
The document compares modern America with Nazi Germany, stating: “In the 1930s, the Nazis destroyed the world’s first gender clinic. They burned its books, and sent trans people to concentration camps.”
It claims there are “echoes of that in the USA today” as trans people see “their passports confiscated, birth certificates torn up, history erased”.
The leaflet also tells the story of a trans student who took her own life after her Saudi Arabian family tried to take her home.
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The leaflet includes a section on the Cass Review, claiming it “set a standard of proof” that is “unique to trans healthcare”.
It states that puberty blockers have been banned despite having “no major side-effects”. However, the Cass Review indicates puberty blockers can compromise bone density in growing adolescents and may reduce psychological functioning.
One mother who attended the party described the leaflet as “fully propaganda in tone” and questioned its appropriateness for young children.
The woman, who did not want to be named, said: “I feel fairly ‘live and let live’ about what people over 18 want to do but to put this in bags going home with seven-year-old girls seems really shocking to me.”
She added: “Pretty sure nobody is handing these out to little boys at football parties.”
Fiona McAnena, of charity Sex Matters, described the leaflet as “shocking propaganda” and a “shameful new low”.
She told The Times: “The fact that Lush is presenting the story of a suicide to seven-year-old girls and telling them that puberty blockers have ‘no major side-effects’ is, frankly, a serious safeguarding matter.”
Lush said the booklet “should not have been put directly into bags without being asked for”.
A spokesman said: “The booklet was designed to be displayed in stores next to signage about the campaign and at till points, for people to take if they wished.
“It should not have been put directly into bags without being asked for and we have issued guidance to our staff to ensure that does not happen again.”
