An Orlando nonprofit organization is demanding a public and direct apology from a popular grocery chain after Publix bakery employees refused to write ‘trans’ on a cake the group had requested for an event.
Yasmin Flasterstein, the founder and director of Peer Support Space, an Orlando-based nonprofit organization, and the co-founder, Dandelion Hill, went to Publix to have a cake made for the organization’s “Spreading Trans Joy” event in April. The two wanted Publix’s bakery associates to write, “Trans people deserve joy” on the cake, a statement the workers claimed they could not say because it had political implications.
According to Peer Support Space’s website, the organization focuses its energy on supporting “marginalized” communities.
“We help those (18+) navigating mental illness and/or substance misuse challenges, neurodivergence, disability, grief, trauma, or other obstacles to mental wellness. This is done while focusing on Black, Latinx, immigrant, LGBTQ+, disabled folx, and other communities that show statistically higher rates of mental health challenges and/or lack of access to affordable and accessible mental wellness options that practice cultural humility.”
Peer Support Space
After the two activists “pleaded” with “literal tears in our eyes,” according to Flasterstein, the bakery still refused to write the statement in its entirety. Rather, the bakery employees met the demands halfway and gave the Flasterstein and Hill a cake that read “people deserve joy.” They left additional room above the lettering, along with extra icing, so that the activists themselves could add the word “trans.”
Flasterstein took to Facebook to bash the company for their refusal to approve the messaging she and the nonprofit’s co-founder had requested, calling the associate’s actions “a slap in the face.” “We spoke to multiple managers within the store and they all said the same thing “corporate won’t let us write it because it’s taking a stance,” Flasterstein wrote. “A stance?! That any community deserves joy is a stance? So let me get this right, it was okay to write ‘people deserve joy’ but not ‘trans people deserve joy.'”
Publix’s corporate account responded to Flasterstein’s Facebook post with a groveling apology, explaining that the store associates did not handle the request “appropriately.” “We are sorry that our associates did not handle your request appropriately,” the company said. “Please message us for more details, and we will gladly make the cake.”
According to the Advocate, Publix’s public relations department sent a follow-up email to Flasterstein to further apologize for the store associate’s actions and explain the company’s policy for customized cakes.
“Our policy indicates that our associates may write statements that are not copyrighted or trademarked, support a charitable cause, are factual, and considered to have a positive connotation,” the email read. “As we indicated in our Facebook conversation, our associates should have fulfilled your request.”
Despite the company’s concessions, activists online rushed to condemn the grocery store for its “non-political policy.” “But… they’re taking a political stance by not doing it??” one user said. Other users suggested harassing the store employees by sending in several LGBT-related cake orders.
The incident closely resembles that of the Colorado Christian bakery owner who declined to customize a cake endorsing a gay wedding, because the request went against his religious beliefs. Instead of seeking out a different bakery, or simply taking the blank cake offered to them and getting the desired customizations elsewhere, the couple decided to drag business owner Jack Phillips through the mud in legal fees and years of court battles.
Even after a partial Supreme Court victory, Phillips continued to receive harassment from the LGBTQ+ community, which sent him several requests for cake customizations that they knew he would decline. The radical and militaristic activists did this for the sole purpose of burying Phillips in legal fees, in an effort to bankrupt him out of business entirely for simply disagreeing with their ideology.
What Publix will soon learn, is that no matter how much, or how often you attempt to appease a mob, even meeting halfway, as Publix attempted to do, will never be enough.
