Laura Pearson

Number 1 bestselling author. Also mum, feminist, reader of proofs. Agent: @jslwilliamson. Publisher: @boldwoodbooks. She/her.

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@JuliaHB1 I’m supportive of trans people doing what they need to do to survive.

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

As a woman who's had breast cancer, a double mastectomy and carries the BRCA2 gene mutation, I don't need you to speak for me, thanks.

[Janet Murray @jan_murray]

Dear Lush (cc Chelmsford City Council),

As a woman who had half a breast removed last year due to cancer, I am writing to raise my concerns about your “Proud of My Stripes” window display.

I am also, on behalf of other women who have experienced breast cancer, respectfully requesting its removal.

Because mastectomies are not a fashion statement, an identity marker or something to be celebrated.

They are something women undergo because they are ill, because they are frightened, because they are trying to stay alive.

Around 59,000 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK every year. Many will undergo surgery - a mastectomy, lumpectomy or other procedure.

Others choose preventive mastectomies because they carry a high-risk BRCA gene mutation.

If a woman chooses to have her breasts removed to affirm a gender identity, that is her personal choice.

I honestly don’t know the number of women who have elective mastectomies for this reason.

What I do know is that it is a tiny number compared with those for whom breast surgery is medically necessary and not something to be celebrated.

I think I speak for many women who have experienced breast cancer - and for their families - when I say this:

Breast removal surgery is not something I regard as cute, playful or empowering.

Nor is it something I believe retailers should be celebrating.

For that reason, I am requesting that the display be removed and that @ChelmsCouncil apologise for promoting it on social media.

Yours sincerely,

Janet Murray

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@NorwichMatt Oh ok, stranger

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@oldlady2609 Yes

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@CyberRebel4 I am also, on behalf of other women who have experienced breast cancer, respectfully requesting its removal.

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@GenZZander I am also, on behalf of other women who have experienced breast cancer, respectfully requesting its removal.

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@GCPaulM She said she was

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@EElizale13 She literally said: I am also, on behalf of other women who have experienced breast cancer, respectfully requesting its removal.

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@soulseamstress2 Clearly

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@bookbird71 I'm not a children's author

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@EvaBennet4 @SebastianPott10 Because she's using cancer as an excuse to be transphobic

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@SebastianPott10 She also said: I am also, on behalf of other women who have experienced breast cancer, respectfully requesting its removal.

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@gemmaEdenham Have a lovely day!

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@BexBookaholic Oh, you lucky thing!

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@ShortBookScribe @BoldwoodBooks Huge thanks, lovely x

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@BexBookaholic I wish the answer was me!

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

@jslwilliamson Eeeeek!

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

Many thanks to @FaberBooks for this copy of #TheLeftandtheLucky, which is about a man living alone and his eight-year-old neighbour. Out now.

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

Another big thank you to @HQstories for this beautiful hardback copy of #TheHouseonOtleyStreet, which is about two murders that took place 20 years apart. Out this month.

[Laura Pearson @LauraPAuthor]

#TheBalladofRonanMcCoy looks like a proper weepy and I am here for it. Massive thanks to @HQstories for my copy. It’s out this month.