Jade Jones outside Voodoo Ray's in East London. Photo by Liz Seabrook.
Dr. Ruth Pearce, a trans feminist scholar from the University of Leeds, agrees that trans hospitality workers can face undue difficulty from customers.“If someone is visibly trans, and they're in a service job, they're more likely to get negative responses from customers—particularly if someone's got a problem anyway,” she tells me over the phone.“[When] someone's got a problem, that's when being trans comes in,” Pearce continues. “That's the point where there might be some additional level of discrimination, inappropriate comments, or threats of violence. People, of course, experience this in the service industry all the time anyway. In a sense, being trans can be an exacerbating factor.”And to make things worse, trans people are more likely to go into restaurant and bar jobs over many other industries.“Trans people have huge problems with employability and getting jobs,” Pearce explains, “so they are more likely to be in the service industry, because it's harder to get a lot of other jobs.”“I constantly feel like it’s just me who encounters these issues. I’m on the frontline—nobody else.”
Inside Cafe Kino, a vegan cafe in Bristol. Photo by author.
Em (left) and friend Jamz outside Cafe Kino. Photo by author.
Eat Your Greens cafe in Bristol. Photo by author.
Babs (left) and Hywel. Photo by author.
Voodoo Ray’s no longer requires its workers to write down incidents, and has worked with Jones to develop new policies for reporting issues. She also clarifies that the pastoral care she’s received at Voodoo Ray’s has been immense: “My manager has supported me through some really dark times and I’m grateful for that.”“Everyone who I work with supports me which is also such a big thing for me,” she adds. “This is how it should be for anyone who is transgender in a working environment: safe.”Dan Beaumont, owner of Voodoo Ray’s and Dalston Superstore, explains how the company has worked to create a positive work environment for Jones and other trans employees.“We are extremely lucky that we have a strong and supportive team alongside Jade, who worked with her to develop strategies to deal with the ongoing nonsense,” Beaumont tells me over email. “In terms of support, we have provided, the reality is that Jade has helped us far more than we have her, by opening our eyes to the daily fight that many trans people face just to be their authentic selves.”“They explicitly told me I was damaging my brand by coming out as trans, so about two weeks before Christmas they pulled a £25,000 book deal from under my feet.”
Jones behind the counter at Voodoo Rays. Photo by Liz Seabrook.
