Doc Martens—A Vocally Pro

Aug 16, 2023

A custom pair of Dr. Martens boots featuring a design depicting a transgender person who received top surgery—which is being given away in a contest and is not available for sale—has caught the attention of conservatives online, who are criticizing the shoe brand as “woke,” in the latest right-wing assault against a company over its pro-LGBTQ social stance.

Dr. Martens has historically supported the LGBTQ community and has sold Pride-themed products. ... [+] (Photo by Erin Clark/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Dr. Martens—commonly called Doc Martens—posted a giveaway contest on its Instagram account last week, offering entrants a chance to win a custom pair of boots designed by artist Jess Vosseteig featuring a cartoon of a transgender person after receiving top surgery, indicated by visible scars on the person’s chest.

The caption states the shoes are “inspired by the queer community,” and Vosseteig’s website says she focuses on queer, feminist and inclusive designs.

Some right-wing social media users, including well-known accounts like Libs of TikTok, criticized the giveaway on their profiles, with some posting anti-transgender messages.

Despite the backlash, the shoes are not for sale and only one pair is being given away via the contest.

Products not available to the public have been the target of “woke” boycotts before: Most famously, Bud Light faced boycotts after it sent transgender social media star Dylan Mulvaney a custom can with her face on it, despite the can not being sold in stores.

Dr. Martens has long supported the LGBTQ community and has sold LGBTQ-themed designs before, noting on its website its history is “deeply interwoven with the LGBTQIA+ community” and that 30% of the company’s employees identify as LGBTQ.

Both the company and queer customers have noted the importance of the shoe to the LGBTQ community, and the company’s website states its shoes have been “adopted by global queer communities as a symbol for stomping all over the status quo.”

Libs of TikTok, a right-wing social media account known for mocking left-wing social media users, posted a screenshot of the Instagram giveaway, criticizing the shoes for featuring transgender men. Ian Miles Cheong, a popular right-wing Twitter user, criticized corporations for “celebrating ‘trans affirming’ body mutilation surgeries,” blaming the design on “wokeness.” Tiffany Justice, cofounder of the right-wing Moms for Liberty organization, ridiculed the design and compared top surgery to amputating a limb: “What if thousands of kids were removing their right arms?” she tweeted.

“The inspiration for my design came from representing queer joy!” Vosseteig stated, according to the Dr. Martens website. “I wanted to include two stylized people that were part of the queer community. I knew I wanted to incorporate lots of color with rainbows, clouds, and sparkles! I wrote ‘Queer Joy’ on the back of them to send the message that queer joy will always exist."

Right-wing boycotts of companies deemed “woke” for outreach to the LGBTQ community or for celebration of diversity, equity and inclusion ramped up earlier this year, particularly after Bud Light faced boycotts in April for its partnership with Mulvaney and during Pride month, when many brands typically launch LGBTQ-inclusive marketing campaigns. The Bud Light boycott caused a dip in sales for the beer brand, and its parent company, Anheuser-Busch, angered both sides of the political spectrum: the right wing for the marketing campaign, and the left wing for allegedly failing to stand behind Mulvaney following the intense backlash both she and the company received. Other targets of the anti-”woke” online anger included Target and Kohl’s for trans-inclusive and Pride-themed product lines, as well as professional sports leagues like Major League Baseball and Nascar for posting pro-Pride messages. Though these boycotts have slowed down since Pride month, the cosmetics brand Maybelline was a recent target in July for casting a bearded LGBTQ influencer for a makeup ad.

Definitive Guide To The Anti-‘Woke’ Protests: From Bud Light To Target To The U.S. Navy—And Everyone Else (Forbes)

What Does ‘Woke’ Even Mean? How A Decades-Old Racial Justice Term Became Co-Opted By Politics (Forbes)