Florida trans activist ordered a message for her cake. Publix bakery refused, she says

An Orlando Publix has reportedly apologized to a transgender advocate group three weeks after the supermarket’s bakery declined to write the word “trans” on a cake.

According to a May 3 Facebook post, Yasmin Flasterstein, who co-founded mental health advocacy nonprofit Peer Support Space, ordered a cake with the message: “Trans people deserve joy!”

When Flasterstein picked up the cake, intended to be served at a local event, the phrase was missing a key word.

The white sheet cake, seen in the post, reads in red frosting: “People deserve joy!”

Another picture sees the activist in the parking lot piping the word “Trans” with frosting on it herself.

“Waited a moment to post this because it was such an icky moment to a really beautiful day,” Flasterstein explained to her followers about the April 26 incident.

She said she complained to a few managers at the supermarket who all told her they couldn’t change the wording because it’s against corporate policy to “take a stance.”

“A stance?!” the post continued. “That any community deserves joy is a stance? So let me get this right, it was OK to write ‘people deserve joy,’ but not ‘trans people deserve joy.’”

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An update about the situation came from her on Friday: Flasterstein said that a representative for the Florida-based grocery chain reached out to her personally via FB message.

“We are often asked to create specialty cakes with free-hand designs. Our policy indicates that our associates may write statements that are not copyrighted or trademarked, support a charitable cause, are factual and considered to have a positive connotation,” Publix’s public affairs office reportedly sent the shopper in a message to her that the Miami Herald has not viewed. “As we indicated in our Facebook conversation, our associates should have fulfilled your request.”

Publix has not returned a Miami Herald request for comment, but Flasterstein thinks the supermarket giant needs to do more.

“The LGBTQ+ community, the trans community, a lot of communities right now are being bullied and targeted,” she told TV station WESH-2. “I would like for Publix to be accountable to whatever their policy is that could have caused confusion and to do something to share to the team that they are allowed to say any community deserves joy.”

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