March 2, 2023

Egale Canada applauds Hershey for including transgender representation in their annual International Women’s Day campaign – Her for She.

The campaign spotlights young Canadian women trailblazers on its chocolate bars and includes trans rights activist and executive director of Wisdom2Action, Fae Johnstone.

Since the release of the campaign, Fae has been the target of an indescribable number of transphobic comments, news stories and even a call for a boycott of the chocolate company for including a trans woman in their campaign.

Egale is disgusted by the transphobic response to what should be a celebrated campaign. This proves just how much more work is needed across 2SLGBTQI representation, inclusion, and rights. As Fae states in her campaign video, “we can create a world where everyone can live in public space as their honest and authentic selves.”

The Her for She Campaign celebrates International Women’s Day – a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate all women – cis and trans. 

Trans women must be treated with respect and dignity, and recognized as women, just like cisgender women. Denying the validity of a trans woman’s identity is not only disrespectful and hurtful, but it also perpetuates harmful stereotypes and discrimination against the transgender community. All individuals should be allowed to express their gender identity without fear of discrimination or violence.

Trans people are regularly excluded from mainstream media and culture and having trans inclusion in a national campaign like Hershey’s Her for She Campaign, helps to increase visibility and representation for the trans community.

Egale is committed to working towards more trans representation and inclusion across all aspects of our society and wishes all women – trans and cis – a happy International Women’s Day.