Primark is selling RuPaul T-shirts – but only for women
Primark’s Ru Paul t-shirt (Twitter/Lewis_Syme)
Primark has started selling £8 RuPaul T-shirts – but only in its womenswear section.
The high street brand began stocking the shirt – emblazoned with the drag icon’s face and signature – earlier this month in selected shops in the UK and Netherlands.
However, one RuPaul fan, @MelTing on Twitter, complained the T-shirt is only available in the women’s section of Primark. This despite the gay icon’s massive following among men and women.
“Annoyed that it seems that primark doesn’t have the ru paul T shirt in a mens. 🙁 [sic],” the fan tweeted on Wednesday.
(MelTing1994/Twitter)
Primark responded to the Twitter user, saying: “We want to please as many costumers as possible, so we’ll definitely pass your comments on to our Buying Team.”
MelTing, whose real name is Mel Jones, told PinkNews that they went to a Liverpool branch of Primark specifically to purchase the RuPaul T-shirt, but was left disheartened.
“I just thought it was strange to promote something that is at its heart LGBT and has a huge LGBT fan base, but not to provide both genders of clothing,” said Jones.
They added: “I went to Primark specifically to get the [RuPaul] T-shirt, and instead I purchased a Rick and Morty one because there was only a female T-shirt available for RuPaul.”
Primark’s RuPaul t-shirt (Lewis_Syme/Twitter)
Primark confirmed its stores only stock a women’s tee, but said it would look into a men’s version.
“The product is currently placed in our womenswear section but we welcome customer feedback and are exploring the possibility of stocking a similar product in menswear,” a Primark spokesperson told PinkNews.
The RuPaul T-shirt is being stocked in numerous stores across the UK including Oxford Street East, Oxford Street West, Liverpool, Manchester Bristol, Lakeside, Cardiff New, Edinburgh, Southampton, Newcastle, Leeds Trinity, Glasgow Argyle St, Stratford, Bromley, Self Trafford, Self Birmingham, Grimsby, and in Damrak in Amsterdam.
This incident isn’t the first time that Primark has come under fire from the LGBTQ+ community.
In April, Primark told PinkNews that it was investigating an alleged incident after a trans woman was “refused entry” to the women’s changing rooms.
And, in February, it was reported that a transgender Primark employee won £47,000 in a discrimination case, after the shop failed to properly investigate and deal with transphobic abuse against the victim.
