An adorable little 5-year-old girl in Texas named Maddie was excited to pick out her Easter outfit, until the store clerk made her feel bad for not wanting to wear a dress.
Maddie was enjoying playing in a bouncy castle during an art walk on Saturday in Denison, Texas, until her mom, Jennifer Giordano, pulled her away to go choose an Easter outfit. Her mom describes little Maddie as a “tomboy” and says her daughter is not the biggest fan of dresses and has preferred wearing “boys’ clothes” since she was about 3. Jennifer took her daughter into Martha’s Miniatures, and because the store was filled with frilly dresses, Giordano was not surprised when her daughter wanted to try on suits instead. According to the report from Kten.com, the store clerk wasn’t too happy with Maddie’s outfit selection:
“The woman’s face was just a face of disgust,” she said. “She told me that I was promoting wrong behavior. That parents should not let their children choose the way that they dress if it’s cross-gendered.” Upset, she posted to Facebook. When friends responded by giving the business one-star reviews, a Facebook post by Martha’s Miniatures seemed to affirm the feeling. Saying, “I was so shocked she asked for a boys’ suit for the child. I asked her why she was encouraging this.” Another post went on to read, “This is child abuse from the mother.”
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The store’s Facebook post has since been removed.
KTEN.com – No One Gets You Closer
This is obviously a pretty bad way to do business, but according to the news report, there is no ordinance against business discrimination in Grayson County. The story does have a happy ending because mom took little Maddie to another store and she was able to get the outfit she wanted for her Easter celebration.
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There are so many arguments you can make about this. Lots of women wear pants and suits. Lots of girls are tomboys. Gender expression has nothing to do with sexual orientation. But I think the only argument that it really comes down to is not your kid, not your business.
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