Homophobia in MK’s Tesco Extra
The Lesbian and Gay Foundation have news of some disturbing incidents that have taken place in the Tesco Extra store in Kingston, Milton Keynes…
Andie who is a Human Resources Manager at B&Q was at the till and her partner Amanda who works as a General Manager also at B&Q was packing the bags.
“Because we were shopping for a party we had some champagne” says Andie.
“The checkout operator gestured to my wife and asked repeatedly “Is the boy over 18?” to which I replied, “If you want to know my wife’s age why don’t you ask her and request ID?”
“Now my wife is almost 40, so it was a ridiculous situation really, as he continued to address me and not her and then dropped it. I told him he was offensive, he just smiled sarcastically and didn’t apologise!”
A few months later Andie returned to the store and heard one member of staff call out “Oi! Gay Boy!” to get another staff member’s attention.
Read the full article here, which includes a response from Tesco’s Chief Executive Sir Terry Leahy.
If you have experienced any homophobic incidents, and are looking for ideas on what to do about them, get in contact with us at info {at} qalliance.org(.)uk.
If you are an organisation looking at training your staff around LGBT issues, do look at the Q:alliance Training Service, we offer a variety of standard training modules and may also be able to work with you to develop tailored training sessions specific to your needs.
Hi I am Rosie , a Transvestite. and a member of the Beaumont society.
I too had a incident at Tesco in Tring.
I was dressed very smart in and was with my then boyfriend.
We had just been on a day trip to London and stopped of to buy something for dinner.
As soon as i go to the fruit and veg, a store detective was onto us.
She did not say anything but followed me and my friend all the way around, at one stage was wanted to say “do you want to hold the basket for me.
I am a transvestite not a thief.
The worse thing was that only weeks earlier I was present at a Beaumont society evening in a Luton hotel, where all the service , including police ambulance council and member from large shopping outlets were all present , to make them aware that transgender people are just real people .
It did not get across Tesco..
Rosie