Bias Watch

Conservatives are outraged that Dr. Martens made a customized pair of boots supporting trans people

The customized Doc Martens boots
The customized Dr. Martens boots Photo: Dr. Martens

Dr. Martens, the shoe and boot company, is coming under fire for a custom pair of boots that celebrate transgender people.

Conservatives are outraged that the company worked with Colorado artist Jess Vosseteig on a custom pair of boots that show a trans masculine person on the left boot and a trans feminine person on the right boot with rainbows and clouds and stars in the background.

Only two pairs of the boots were produced – one to give away as part of a contest and one for the artist herself – but that was two too many for the bizarre and aggressively anti-trans gadfly Chris Elston, who said that Dr. Martens “sells boots to advertise cutting off the breasts of healthy girls.”

Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice decided for some reason that the illustration on the boots was of a minor and wrote in reference to the boots: “What if thousands of kids were removing their right arms?”

“Make it stop,” wrote anti-trans activist Meg Brock.

“Doc Martens is celebrating transgender mastectomy. When does this end?” asked anti-feminist activist Ian Miles Cheong.

Vosseteig said that she was “very grateful” to have been able to customize the pair of boots for the giveaway.

“I love expressing queer joy in my art and I’m really happy with how I could translate that onto these boots,” she wrote. “Now I (and whoever is the giveaway winner) can walk around showing queer pride.”

The boots are a part of the company’s social media competition called DIY Docs, where artists customize a pair of boots and are then given away to someone.

“We have always embraced diversity in the Dr. Martens community,” the company told PinkNews. “We’re proud to support our team and our wearers, and to continue to support creativity and freedom of expression.”

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