Size matters: Transgender woman Kylie Jack says she was refused bra fitting services when she visited Petticoat Fair in Austin, Texas, Saturday

‘If you are in solidarity with trans women, please boycott Petticoat Fair until they remove their transphobic and cissexist policies. Please feel free to share this post,’ she continued.

Shop talk: Petticoat Fair says on its website that ‘every woman is treated with respect and given one-on-one attention’ at the store

‘Based on today’s posts to this page and elsewhere, there seems to be a misconception that Petticoat Fair has a policy of not working with the transgendered community. That is not the case. In fact, we have served the transgendered community for most of our 50 years in Austin,’ owner Kirk Andrews posted on Sunday, adding, ‘If it’s unclear whether a customer is a man or a woman, we err on the side of caution as a protocol, but never on the side of discrimination or intolerance. That’s just not who we are as a business.’

And this morning, Mr Andrews responded to the controversy with another post.

‘We want you to know that we are listening to your concerns, and that we are taking steps to further educate ourselves. We had a productive and respectful meeting with Kylie yesterday, in which we reiterated our apology to her. We are planning to meet with representatives of the trans community, including the Transgender Education Network of Texas. We will be clarifying our store policies
and will communicate those. This will be a thoughtful and inclusive
process that will take time.’

Bra backlash: After facing a social media outcry, the store’s owner has said he ‘had a productive and respectful meeting’ with Ms Jack (pictured)

He added: ‘We ask for your patience in this. In the meantime, because much of the conversation on social media has devolved into unproductive and even hateful and threatening posts, we are calling a halt to the conversation on this topic here. As we said before, but which has gotten lost in the shuffle, we have appreciated—and learned from—much of the dialogue. We will leave most of it intact, but we will delete posts that are violent, obscene, racist, sexist, abusive, or threaten our employees or other individuals. Thank you for listening, and for your patience and support.’

She said she’d consider the issue resolved when a formal public apology is made to the Austin transgender community, ‘along with the steps they’re taking to update their policies to be trans-friendly and trans-inclusive.’

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