How Starbucks changed lives for the trans community in Brazil

Brian Carruthers

Starbucks took its practice of writing customers’ names on their cups and used it as a springboard for a successful campaign on behalf of trans people in Brazil.

When Starbucks introduced the practice of having its staff write customers’ names on their takeaway cups back in 2012, cynics dismissed it as a stunt.

But that signature experience means a lot to Brazil’s LGBTQIA+ community, and, in particular, members of the trans community, where names are a highly emotive issue, colouring many aspects of their lives, and their interactions with companies and the state via official documents.

A name given at birth doesn’t reflect who a trans person is, but, all too often, that is the name that may be called out in public spaces, precipitating an unnecessarily difficult...

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