Florida supermarket refuses to write “trans” on a cake to honor the community

A pro-transgender activist from Florida is demanding an apology from southern supermarket chain Publix after a bakery employee refused to put “trans people deserve joy” as the icing on a cake.

Yasmin Flasterstein, 28, bought the pie as part of her work for an Orlando-based nonprofit called Peer Support Space, which helps vulnerable people with mental illness, trauma and other issues.

In late April, she was working on a member drive to produce care packages for transgender people and wanted to add a cake to celebrate as part of the “Spread Trans Joy” campaign.

She went to a Publix location on Colonial Drive in Orlando and asked for the lyrics “trans people deserve joy” when Flasterstein said she got a confused look from the bakery worker.

Flasterstein – who is not transgender but co-founded Peer Support Space with a trans friend – claims she received a cake that read only “people deserve joy” and asked to speak to the manager.

After writing about the incident on Facebook, she received responses in the comments section of Publix’s Facebook account

Flasterstein claimed the bakery’s manager appeared to be “on the verge of crying” and offered her space on the top of the cake and icing so she could write it herself

“They couldn’t write on the cake that ‘transgender people deserve joy’ because that would be taking a position and Publix shouldn’t be taking a position on the issue,” she said. Orlando weekly.

She argued that refusing to write the word trans on cake told them “they are not worthy of joy” and was a point of view.

Flasterstein claimed that the bakery manager appeared to be “on the verge of crying” and offered her space on the cake and icing so she could write it herself.

After writing about the incident on Facebook, she received responses in the comments section of Publix’s Facebook account.

We’re sorry our staff didn’t handle your request correctly. Message us for more information, and we’ll be happy to make the cake,” the account wrote.

She replied, “I appreciate the apology. I’m glad Publix wants to write, “Trans people deserve joy on a cake.” But I think their apology falls short of what we deserved in response to what happened.”

Flasterstein added that she wanted the company to be “accountable” to their policy for the confusion it caused and to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Yasmin Flasterstein, 28, bought the pie as part of her work for an Orlando-based nonprofit called Peer Support Space, which helps vulnerable people with mental illness, trauma and other issues

In late April, she was working on a membership drive to produce care packages for transgender people and wanted to add a cake to celebrate as part of the “Spread Trans Joy” campaign

She has since been contacting the company via email and says she has received mixed messages.

“They said they would retrain the team,” Flasterstein said. “But I want to know who is being retrained. Retrained on what? What does that training look like?’

She added that she feels transgender people are under attack and they want companies that show they are on the side of the transgender community.

“The LGBTQ+ community, the trans community, many communities are currently being bullied and targeted. And I wanted people to know that there are people in their organizations who care about them,” she said. “I don’t care if it’s a pie. Even if it’s a cake, there are people who care about you,” she said WESH.

Flasterstein said the organization had previously used Publix frequently for “big events because it’s fast, convenient and affordable,” but doesn’t plan to do business with them again.

Flasterstein feels transgender people are under attack and they want companies that show they are on the side of the transgender community

Flasterstein said the organization had previously often used Publix for “big events because it’s fast, convenient and affordable,” but doesn’t plan to do business with them again

In an email from Publix’s public affairs agency, the chain offered Flasterstein “sincere apologies.”

‘We are often asked to make special cakes with freehand designs. Our policy states that our employees may write statements that are not copyrighted or trademarked, support a good cause, be factual, and have a positive connotation.

“As we stated in our Facebook conversation, our staff should have complied with your request.”

DailyMail.com has reached out to state and regional Publix spokespersons for comment.