BrewDog facing backlash over new ‘transgender’ beer

Yesterday, Scottish craft brewery BrewDog unveiled No Label, “the world’s first non-binary, transgender beer” made from hops that changed sex before harvest.

BrewDog also announced that all profits from No Label sales will be donated to events organiser Queerest of the Queer, who will in turn use the money to support LGBT-oriented organisations such as the Albert Kennedy Trust and Micro Rainbow International.

However, the news didn’t go down well with some sections the LGBT community, who’ve accused the company of hijacking trans identities for commercial gain. Here’s some of what the critics had to say:

https://twitter.com/superfemmejade/status/661990049379131393/

https://twitter.com/fakerapper/status/661900444265029632/

https://twitter.com/Mismembered/status/661927361240240128/

https://twitter.com/lobsterpot_/status/661923591987023872/

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for LGBT advocacy group Stonewall said: “While it’s encouraging to see BrewDog raising money for trans youth communities, and we like the ‘No Label’ concept, we’re concerned about the language. The trans community is diverse – many trans people do not transition, or identify with binary genders, and BrewDog’s language undermines that.”

The Mary Sue’s weekend editor Jessica Lachenal offered her 2p on the matter: “All they actually did with “No Label” was set the conversation back. They’ve shown that they still have a massive gap in understanding, coming up short with this attempt at fostering inclusivity.

“With a second opinion or more time, this marketing ploy could’ve done some some good, and that’s a real bummer. But because it’s half-baked and because it’s pretty gosh darn misguided, it’s going to do more harm than anything else.”

Critics have also brought up a recent advert that landed BrewDog in hot water over claims it was transphobic.

BrewDog founder and CEO James Watt has spoken in defence of No Label, insisting there was no gimmickry involved and that the beer was “already in the works” before the contentious advert was released.

Watt told the Business Insider, “People have got to look at what we’ve done here. We’ve worked with the charity Queerest of the Queer to put this together. They co-designed the packaging, they worked with us on the project, we’re donating all the proceeds of sales of this beer to charity.”