Trans activist stands up to backlash from Hershey campaign

Trans activist responds to Hershey backlash Trans rights advocate Fae Johnstone responds to the hateful backlash after she starred in a Hershey campaign for International Women's Day.

An Ottawa transgender rights advocate is not backing down after her appearance in a campaign for International Women's Day sparked hateful backlash.

Fae Johnstone, 27, was one of five women featured in the Hershey Canada campaign HER for SHE, which the company says spotlights "the progress we have made towards gender equality and the amount of work we still have to do."

But within hours after Johnstone posted the video to social media, she received a torrent of hateful responses.

"It blew up across North American news, across the world," she said. "We saw far-right groups in the U.S. really take issue with my presence and turn this into some heinous political agenda when I was one of five young women."

Some social media users attacked Johnstone directly. Others called for a boycott of the company, with #BoycottHershey trending on Twitter.

Johnstone, an Ottawa resident and executive director of Wisdom2Action, a social enterprise and consulting firm, has since locked her Twitter account. The transphobia she faced as a result of the campaign is one example of a larger agenda that aims to take away trans people's rights, she said.

"I think we're seeing a political environment around the world right now where trans people are being demonized and dehumanized, and where folks are zeroing in and targeting us in a way that would never be tolerated for other communities," Johnstone told CTV Morning Live.

"This is a bigger problem than just one person. This is something that we need everyone to be paying attention to."

Hate crimes against the LGBT2QS+ community are on the rise in Canada. Last year, Statistics Canada said police-reported hate crimes based on sexual orientation have risen to their highest level in five years, up nearly 60 per cent between 2019 and 2021.

Johnstone said she believes Canada has reached a "unique moment" when it comes to LGBTQ2S+ rights.

"I think we are seeing a radicalization—it's connected to COVID, it's connected to the convoy occupation—we are seeing a far right that is zeroing in on marginalized people and they're using trans folks as the wedge.

"Social media makes it worse, but the root problem is far right extremism."

Hershey has stood by Johnstone and the campaign, saying the company values togetherness and diversity.

"Over the past three years, our Women's History Month programming has been an inclusive celebration of women and their impact," the company said in a post on Instagram. "We appreciate the countless people and meaningful partnerships behind these efforts."

Johnstone also said she doesn't believe International Women's Day should focus all about trans folks by any measure, but it should spotlight the inequities that many groups of women experience.

"Attacks on trans people's rights are attacks on women's rights," she said. "This is an effort to roll back gender norms to the early 20th century, and that's going to make all of our communities—women, girls, trans folks—it's going to make our lives harder."